Shikamaru no Go
by SwordsMagician
Summary: In an alternate universe, a different person walked the path of Shindo Hikaru. How will Nara Shikamaru deal with a go-playing spirit, tournaments, opponents and Toya Akira? This lazy genius didn't realise how playing Go could be so troublesome… WIP
1. Chapter 1

**Shikamaru no Go**  
By swordsmagician

Chapter 1

Nara Shikamaru fiddled at the shougi board in front of him. His mother was shopping, but he had been able to get her to leave him at the public park for the time being. More like he asked and she relented. Putting effort into convincing his mother was too troublesome.

Anyway, she had pointed out the other kids playing games, but he wasn't particularly interested in that right now. He gazed down again. The park had a couple of tables with old men playing shougi. His father had always beaten him in the father-son bonding matches they played. Maybe he should think up a couple of strategies, see if he could find some way to get one over him.

A shadow fell across the board, and he looked up slowly. A tall, bearded man was gazing down.

"You play shougi, kid?"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. Most ten year olds didn't play strategy games, true, but why else would he sit in front of one? He nudged the board questioningly towards him.

The man took a seat across him. "Do you mind?"

Shikamaru shrugged apathetically. It wasn't like he'd come across the random stranger again. A game would be nice.

More than an hour later Shikamaru stretched. His mother should be done by now. The laidback man that was his opponent was staring slack-jawed at the shougi board. If he thought this was a challenge, heaven help him if he went against Nara Shikaku. Now he was a great shougi player.

He could see his mother motioning to him with plastic bags in her hands.

"Thanks for the game," he murmured as he stood and ran to his mother, hands shoved in his pockets.

_Maybe I can watch clouds for a while_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Sarutobi Asuma wasn't sure what to expect when he sat himself in front of the shougi board. He had been killing time after he left one of his usual salons, when he caught sight of the kid. Brown hair in a spiky ponytail, and black eyes staring at the board.

Somehow he found himself in a game with a ten year old. And he was losing.

This child had some mannerisms akin to that of an old man, taking things slowly. Most kids were energetic balls of mischief, like Konohamaru, Asuma's young nephew, not the lazy youth in front of him that hadn't spoken much.

He gazed, calculating, at the younger boy, and promptly created a tricky little problem. He then sat back, waiting to see how he would react.

The boy stared at it for a while, frowning slightly, and then pressed the tips of his fingers together, holding his hands in a position in front of him and closing his eyes in concentration.

Asuma just watched on for a while, perplexed at the action, until the boy opened his eyes. This time they were dead serious, and the game picked up rather dramatically, and with a series of moves he proceeded to capture pieces and use them with devastating effect.

Asuma lost.

He didn't know how long he stared down in shock at the board, his mind comprehending just what had taken place before him. His ego was a bit bruised too, he had to admit. While he wasn't a pro at strategy games, he was no novice. He had competed in amateur tournaments before, though it was more for fun.

When he finally snapped out of his funk, the kid had already run off. He didn't even have a name. When he realised the missed opportunity, he had looked down at the game again. It was a great game, but he had been outclassed.

Who the hell was this kid?

* * *

Yuuhi Kurenai sighed as she readied herself for the meeting. It probably wouldn't be the first time she had had a word with a family, but she was one of the teachers delegated with the task this time around.

Normally Iruka would be handling this, being in charge of Shikamaru's year group, but he was sick today.

"Kurenai?" a female voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes?"

She looked up and saw Nara Shikaku and Yoshino. They had talked a few times, enough that Kurenai was comfortable in their presence, and had struck up a friendship of sorts with Shikamaru's mother.

"Sorry, Iruka's sick today, but he didn't want to cancel the talk. He asked me to fill in for him," she admitted sheepishly.

Shikamaru's complaints painted Yoshino as a nagging, formidable woman. He definitely took after his father – they both shared that calm, laidback demeanour, as well as the black eyes and hairstyle.

"We know Shikamaru has never been the most…motivated of students," Shikaku spoke calmly, as he began a conversation that wasn't the first of its kind.

Yoshino glared at him. "We know whose side of the family he got that from!" she declared. Shikaku might have flinched, Kurenai wasn't sure.

"Well, the motivational part is true. His grades are the lowest of his class, almost failing, and barely average in other subjects. I'm worried that when he goes to high school it'll be too late for him to learn to persevere in his studies." Kurenai flipped through the papers. "Shikamaru's best results are in Japanese and literature, and aside from lack of effort he does very well. If he applies himself, I'm sure he'd do better."

"Well…my son did show some interest in writing, I suppose," Yoshino remarked.

"I see." Kurenai looked up at Shikamaru's parents. "He falls asleep in class, but you've told me before that it's quite normal, so it's not from lack of sleep. It was Iruka's idea that if you can find something he is genuinely interested in, maybe you can encourage him to work harder."

"If that's the case, maybe some shougi games could help, seeing as how it's one of the few things Shikamaru actually does," Yoshino said to her husband.

"Shougi?" asked Kurenai. She hadn't known that the boy was interested in games like that.

"It's worth a try. Shikamaru wasn't really one for physical effort, so I tried to develop his intellect and strategic thinking by teaching him shougi. He picked the rules up very quickly, but he hasn't really shown much effort in other aspects like schoolwork," Shikaku answered.

_Well, aside from running away from something, then track is always an option, if Yoshino nags enough…_ he thought to himself.

Kurenai pursed her lips in thought.

"If he enjoys shougi, maybe I can introduce him to Asuma. He's a friend of mine that enjoys strategy games – he's entered a couple of amateur tournaments in shougi and go before. Maybe he can introduce Shikamaru to some children tournaments, make him a bit more competitive and motivated."

Yoshino sighed in exasperation. "If he can get Shikamaru to work, then it's all the better. I can't nag him all the time."

"If you trust the man and think it's worth a shot, why not?" Shikaku said. If it made Yoshino happy, and it had to do with shougi…

* * *

Asuma let out a trail of smoke, and then crushed the cigarette. He ambled through the deserted corridors; Kurenai should be finishing up soon.

He smirked. Kurenai was talking to a couple in one of the classrooms. The wife was a headstrong woman, if her gestures and sharp tone was anything to go by. But the man was awfully familiar.

Eyes widening, he spun in the direction of the opposite classroom room, where kids were often kept while their parents and teachers talked without any sugar-coating in similar circumstances. He focused on a spiky ponytailed head resting on the table.

It was a hell of a coincidence.

"Asuma?" Evidently, Kurenai had finished up.

He shrugged. "I came early, so I thought I'd wait for you." He turned to the kid's parents. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sarutobi Asuma."

"We were just talking about you actually," the man continued. "I'm Nara Shikaku, and this is my wife Yoshino. Kurenai was just telling us that you play shougi; maybe you can have a match with my son. I've been playing shougi with him for about three years now."

The kid had been playing since he was seven?

"Actually, there's no need. I played a game of shougi with him just last week at the park. I was defeated too."

While Kurenai and Yoshino blinked at the unexpected news to the impromptu shougi game, Shikaku just smiled. He then knocked on the wooden frame of the door.

"Shikamaru, you can wake up now."

The kid stirred and raised his head from the desk, stretching slightly. When he noticed the four adults loitering in the corridor, and focused on Asuma, he gained a 'deer in the headlight' kind of look. Asuma suppressed a smirk and raised a hand in greeting. "Hey."

"Shikamaru, this is Sarutobi Asuma. Apparently you played shougi with him." Yoshino had a slight glint in her eye that meant trouble.

Shikamaru groaned inwardly. _So much for not seeing him again, eh? What a drag._

While he looked laidback and reserved, inside Asuma was grinning. He knew a few places where Shikamaru could play against a whole bunch of opponents – the old geezers were always complaining about today's youth; lets see how they take to a ten year old wiping the floor with them.

Who knows, maybe he could even introduce Nara Shikamaru to Go…

* * *

Well, my first attempt at a fanfiction. My main concern is that the idea is ok, but the writing is terrible, in which nothing can really be done except practice on my writing style. Don't be surprised if I tweak things around though – I can just feel glaring plot holes ahead…

My knowledge of Hikaru no Go isn't very good, as well as my understanding of shougi or Go, and I apologise in advance. Things will probably be a bit OOC, but I'll go with the flow for now.

Many thanks to all who review, as well as my friend etowa-ru, whose encouragement and persistence paid off in the end. Cheers!


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: In an alternate universe, a different person walked the path of Shindo Hikaru. How will Nara Shikamaru deal with a go-playing spirit, tournaments, opponents and Toya Akira? This lazy genius didn't realise how playing Go could be so troublesome…

Disclaimer: Do you really think I own Hikaru no Go? I guess I own the idea of the Shikamaru AU, but other than that I'm just a normal impoverished student that spends way too much of my time reading books, and not enough hard work on my studies…

* * *

**Shikamaru no Go**  
By swordsmagician

Chapter 2

"Tomorrow, let's go to a shougi salon," Asuma said out of the blue.

"…A shougi salon? What for?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well," Asuma scratched the back of his neck, "I've only seen you play against me and your father. You'll never improve if you limit your opponents."

"I do play shougi on the computer you know," the boy muttered.

"You do, don't you. How's school by the way?"

Shikamaru let out a long breath. "It's fine, I guess. Troublesome as ever."

The teacher blinked. "If you're having trouble, I could tutor you or something. I'm a teacher after all, and Iruka-sensei tries to look out for all you kids."

"Yeah. Iruka-sensei already helps one of my classmates, Naruto. It's possible Naruto has a mild case of ADHD, or just isn't very good at schoolwork. He's mostly hands-on, so Iruka tutors him with slightly different methods." (Reading between the lines, it meant either bribery by ramen, or the channelling of Iruka's super-sensei skills.)

"I see. If there's anything you want to talk about or whatever, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks," Shikamaru said, genuinely touched. He then frowned. "Hey Asuma-sensei, are you dating Kurenai-sensei? You two seem pretty close."

"…"

Soon enough, Asuma had become a fairly frequent visitor to the Nara residence, normally dropping by twice a week to play a few games of shougi with Shikamaru, and less often, Shikaku. He hadn't won against either of them yet.

"No wonder I can't defeat Shikamaru," Asuma had remarked to Shikaku once. "If you taught him what you knew then it's obvious I wouldn't stand a chance."

"Maybe you're just a bad shougi player," Shikaku said dryly. Asuma chuckled sheepishly.

"Shikamaru is a smart boy. Regardless of what test scores and class work says, you've picked up that. It's probably why Yoshino keeps pushing him to put more effort into class – she knows he can do better."

Asuma had pondered on Shikaku's words afterwards as he smoked on the balcony of his apartment. _He has a point. Iruka and Kurenai both mentioned how Shikamaru sleeps through class, and even with the time I've spent with him, you can tell he's not exactly very driven. _

_He's proficient at shougi and exceptional at strategy games – yet his school marks are the worst in his class. Surely a kid who is able to play on par with people three times his age would find schoolwork just fine. _

* * *

"Shikamaru! Wake up, or I'll come up there and drag you down myself!" Yoshino called as she prepared breakfast in the kitchen.

Said boy managed to drag himself into the room eventually, mumbling a semi-coherent greeting.

"Good morning," his mother said as his father handed him the puzzles in the paper.

"Asuma said he'd be taking you to some salons or something today," Shikaku prodded from his newspaper. Shikamaru hadn't been complaining about his spare time or anything, and Shikaku knew that his son genuinely enjoyed playing shougi, as well as spending time with 'Asuma-sensei'.

Shikamaru swallowed his food and nodded, unaware of his father's musings. "He said he knew a few places where there might be good opponents for me, but I don't really see the point." He then picked up a pen, and, after staring at the Sudoku for a while, began filling out the numbers.

There was a huff of exasperation from Yoshino as she closed some cabinets. "Shikamaru, Asuma is giving up his free time to take you to these places, you'd think you'd be a bit more grateful for what he's doing," she berated.

Her son looked up at her from under lidded eyes, as he placed down the pen and pushed the completed Sudoku aside. "Mum, it's not that I'm ungrateful or anything," he explained calmly, "but I don't get why he's putting in so much effort."

Shikaku's mouth twitched upwards. "Has it occurred to you that maybe he sees someone worth the effort?" he questioned. Shikaku never mentioned how Asuma had confided that he sometimes felt like a pretty bad teacher, considering how his student had already surpassed him in terms of strategy and tactics. Shikamaru just blinked twice and ducked his head, muttering how troublesome this all was.

His father smirked lazily. "In any case, playing against different opponents will be good for you. You can't just verse me all the time – this way you might actually win once in a while."

Shikamaru didn't find it such a drag to openly glare at him.

* * *

"Well, we're here."

Asuma waved the ten year-old into a spacious building called Climbing Silver *, which was busy with shougi players. The majority were men in their later years, but there was a good variety of players, even with Shikamaru being the only child. The room had the lingering smell of cigarettes. _Were all salons full of chain smokers like Asuma-sensei?_ Shikamaru speculated apprehensively. _At this rate all the passive smoking will suffocate me._

"Hey Asuma! Who's the kid, your apprentice?"

Asuma smiled at a dark-haired man that walked up to them casually, hands shoved in his pockets. "Sort of. This is my pupil, Nara Shikamaru – maybe you'd like to play a game of shougi with him?"

The man smiled. "Good to see the younger generation taking an interest! I'm Kuroda, the owner of this fine establishment. Is this your first time playing shougi in a salon?"

To Shikamaru's nod, he said, "In your case, first-timers are free. Asuma still has to pay."

Asuma grumbled half-heartedly as he paid the fee, but Kuroda beamed as he made his way to one of the tables and sat down, Shikamaru following suit. "How long have you been playing?" he asked the ten year old.

"Ah, about three years? I mostly play against my father and Asuma-sensei, as well as shougi online."

"I see." Kuroda started by moving a pawn, and the rest of the game progressed in relative silence. Some of the other regulars quietly chatted amongst themselves as they continued their games, but Asuma and a few others were watching how the youngster was fairing. The number of spectators grew as the game continued, but Shikamaru and Kuroda didn't pay them any attention.

The game took a turn when Kuroda threatened one of Shikamaru's key pieces with his lance. Shikamaru's eyes roamed the board, before he brought his hands together into a familiar position. Asuma smiled mentally at the sight – he knew that a man like Kuroda, with years under his belt, could bring out some of Shikamaru's strategic skills to the forefront.

The boy in question then opened his eyes, and moved one of his pawns. Kuroda's frown at his behaviour deepened as he surveyed the board. He eventually retaliated by capturing another of Shikamaru's pawns on another part of the board.

Now Asuma was noticing the faces of some of the regulars and other customers, who whispered amongst themselves. Evidently, they hadn't expected Shikamaru to have this level of skill. He turned back to the battle before him. The owner of the shougi salon had more experience against a variety of opponents, but his strategy wasn't as sound as it could have been – his moves were rather conservative.

And Shikamaru had the mindset of a great general, reading into the opponents' strategy and always keeping himself three moves ahead.

(He wondered if playing and losing repeatedly against Nara Shikaku had something to do with it).

Kuroda had made his move. He and Shikamaru were staring at each other seriously, before they looked down at the board in front of them. Shikamaru picked up a piece, and placed it down with a soft _tap_.

Kuroda's eyes widened as he stared at the board, before looking back to his opponent. His face became more stern and slightly put out as he said, "Oh, alright, I resign." Shikamaru thanked him politely, and then turned around to face Asuma.

"Asuma-sensei, do you do this all the time? Playing in salons, I mean?"

Asuma's eyes snapped away from the game. "Sometimes," he said evenly. "There are a few shougi and go salons I haunt regularly – if you want I'll show you to a couple of the others too."

Shikamaru was sitting a bit stiffly, as opposed to his lazier position when playing, and Asuma realised, with hint of amusement that the boy had probably never been scrutinized by an audience, and was feeling a bit uncomfortable. _I have to remedy that – he was able to tune them out for the duration of the game, it shouldn't be too long before he's used to it_ he thought.

"It's good to have a bit of variety against players anyway," the teacher continued. "I know you play some, but tougher amateurs can be found hanging around salons."

"Regardless, he will be coming back next week." Both teacher and student turned back to Kuroda, who had folded his arms and was pinning the two with a stern glare. His gaze flickered to Shikamaru.

"Next time, I'll know not to hold back for one, and we'll see what the outcome of the game is then. Still," Kuroda gave a quick grin to the boy, "you'll have plenty of opponents who'll want to try their luck against you; and my salon hosts some of the most bizarre shougi players you'll meet."

Asuma opened his mouth when he mentally went over his schedule. "Well, next week might be a bit hard, I have some papers that need grading-"

An interruption came in the form of: "Come on kid; let's have a shougi game while they're both distracted!" The chipper voice belonging to the youngest regular, Saki Hajime, boomed as he grabbed Shikamaru's hand and forcibly dragged him over to an empty board at the far end of the room. Some spectators rolled his eyes as Kuroda sighed. "Great, now that Ha-kun's stolen your student, I can't discuss the game with him." Asuma chuckled as he patted Kuroda consolingly.

The other customers had now gone back to their own games, or were heatedly discussing the game that had taken place before. Hajime, known sometimes as Ha-kun, was in his mid-twenties, with ash blonde hair (dyed, according to another regular) and hazel eyes.

"So, Shikamaru-kun," Hajime's eyes gleamed competitively as Shikamaru sweatdropped at the sudden mood swing, "you seem to have a good understanding of the game, but don't think I'll hold back because you're a kid."

Hajime's style was obscure with a degree of irregularity, Shikamaru admitted to himself. Against his better judgement he became absorbed in the game that he had approached with some caution. Soon he was working well against the randomised moves – though effective when throwing off an opponent, Shikamaru could do the same, using unpredictable moves that concealed traps for the unwary, or would come into effect later in the game.

The game was much harder than Kuroda's, while the styles were vastly different. He had let out a long breath when the game was over (Hajime had just lost after Shikamaru engineered a couple of traps that triggered even more traps, _finally_ managing to break past his defences) and stood up, thanking the man calmly. He had enjoyed it, after all, and it had been a great game. What he did not expect was being grabbed by two strong arms into an unexpected hug, and he yelped in surprise.

Hajime had literal stars in his eyes. "Kid, you're really something! I can see why Asuma is helping to utilise your potential!"

Shikamaru was more concerned about the invasion of his personal space.

"Oi, Ha-kun, stop scaring the customers. And put Nara down," Kuroda said. Hajime's grip tightened as he pivoted both him and Shikamaru to Kuroda's direction.

"But…but…this kid here's some type of genius! Why is _Asuma_ of all people his teacher anyway? His shougi skills suck." Asuma glared while Hajime smiled innocently in his direction.

One of the other regulars coughed, "Well, for one thing, Asuma's sane," as Asuma pried Hajime from Shikamaru, who was looking a bit dazed and weirded out by this point.

"Let's have a rematch next time! Then I'll show you my true strength," vowed Hajime as he struck a dramatic pose.

* * *

What with Shikamaru's reception at the shougi salon, as well as the two games he had played with the regulars, Asuma had thought to highlight different salons on a map in case he ever wanted to look at them on his own, while they continued visiting Climbing Silver every weekend or so. The customers were rather fond of the Nara, with Hajime semi-adopting the boy as a younger brother. He had said something along the lines of 'Shikamaru needed someone who could challenge his shougi abilities', which was a not-so-subtle jab towards the teacher. He and Hajime tended to do this, but Hajime was the stronger player, definitely.

Shikamaru could play well against Ha-kun, who was considered the best player in the salon. Granted, Shikamaru lost the next game, and was more often than not defeated in challenges afterwards, but Saki Hajime was a shougi pro, and with the Japan Shougi Association ** being founded this year, Hajime could have been scouting Shikamaru out as a potential rival in the future, or new talent.

Asuma wasn't sure if Shikamaru was up to competing professionally (he'd probably complain that it was 'too much work') but he had his own suspicions. To satisfy his curiosity, as well as just for kicks, he devised an IQ test for Shikamaru, disguised as another puzzle. Shikamaru just yawned as he lethargically put the pieces together. And when Asuma found out the result, he had to pay an important visit.

"Asuma," Yoshino called as she ushered him inside the house. "How are you doing? And Kurenai?"

After she and Asuma exchanged pleasantries, they moved to the living room, where Shikaku was looking through letters after a day at the lab. "Oh, hello Asuma. Sorry, but Shikamaru isn't here – I think he's out with friends today."

"That's fine," the teacher said hastily. 'I wanted to talk to you two actually.'

Shikaku paused, scrutinizing him, before slowly putting down the papers from his hands. "It's about our son, isn't it? It always is."

"Yes. I was wondering about how Shikamaru's schoolwork is so bad, yet he's so good at things like shougi," Asuma continued. "Dealing with your son, I know that he doesn't do well at schoolwork because he feels that 'picking up a pencil is too troublesome.'"

Shikaku and Yoshino exchanged an exasperated, amused glance, which parents may often convey telepathically about their offspring.

"So, I gave Shikamaru an IQ test yesterday, pretending it was just another puzzle. I was quite unsure on what the results would be, but I wanted to see how he would do, considering his skills in games." Asuma paused. "It turns out his IQ is off the charts, beyond genius – the kid has an IQ of over 200."

Shikaku let out a long, slow breath as he scratched his head in contemplation. "I don't put much stake into IQ tests, but I wondered sometimes how smart Shikamaru was. When he was a kid, it was hard getting him interested in things beyond watching clouds and sleeping."

"And it's not like we didn't have our suspicions," Yoshino sighed. "He was never interested in the books and games we had tried to tempt him with when he was younger. It wasn't until Shikaku started bringing home Mensa puzzles and passing Shikamaru the sudoku and crosswords that we definitely knew." She turned to Shikaku. "Lazy, an IQ off the charts, strategy games, even your hairstyles –well, at least Shikamaru can cook. That's because of me naturally," she said.

Her husband waved a hand vaguely. "Details, details."

Asuma's mind was going into overdrive with all the information. If anything, his ego had been smashed into the negatives from taking beating after beating from a ten year old shougi player, but considering the IQ results, his losses felt more justified now.

Nara Shikamaru really had no idea about the chain of events set in motion as he was greeted the next day with a nine by nine Go board, basic life and death problems, and Asuma's grinning face.

"Shikamaru, I want to try something new today."

* * *

* Climbing Silver refers to the common opening attacks that involve advancing a silver (ideally a pawn), along a file protected by the rook. Because silvers have more possibilities for retreat, while golds better defend their sides, silvers are generally considered superior as attacking pieces and golds superior as defensive pieces. It is common practice to defend the king with three generals, two golds and a silver. If you want more info, look up Wikipedia for a good generalisation.

** The Japan Shougi Association was founded in 1997 (the present year in the story), so Shikamaru and Toya Akira are both ten right now. The Tokyo Shougi Association was formed in 1924, and was the earlier incarnation of the modern version mentioned above.

* * *

Thank you for the reviews and story alerts! I was very happy, but it came to the point that I was gaining all my inspiration when I could have been studying more for my exams. At least they're over now. I'm glad people enjoyed the first chapter – I feel like I have an imaginary Sai, only he's telling me to write more instead of playing Go!

You're probably wondering 'What's with all the shougi?' Well, Shikamaru has played shougi since he was seven (no matter how smart, he's still a kid, and his dad taught him a lot), but Shikaku doesn't play Go, though both Naras like playing strategy and mind games. It took me a while to find an ending I was remotely happy with – thank you Inkdreams for the bouncing of ideas!

Mentions also to Eternal Enmity, who is helping me beta on the side.

Saki Hajime – an OC that somehow came to life and created himself – is a shougi pro. Somehow, he just is. And while he's hoping Shikamaru might become one too, he never factored in Sai, who will show Shikamaru how amazing Go is as well! Regardless, Shikamaru would still play shougi, but it will otherwise take a more background part in his life.

Next Chapter: In which Shikamaru is (properly) introduced to Go, and our favourite Go-playing spirit (finally!) makes an appearance.


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: In an alternate universe, a different person walked the path of Shindo Hikaru. How will Nara Shikamaru deal with a go-playing spirit, tournaments, opponents and Toya Akira? This lazy genius didn't realise how playing Go could be so troublesome…

Disclaimer: Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata would kill me if I tried to pass myself off as a manga artist or the writer of Hikago. If I write my own series, maybe I can hunt down a mangaka and thrust the book in their face, see if anything comes out of it…

**

* * *

**

Shikamaru no Go

By swordsmagician

Chapter 3

"Happy birthday Shikamaru!"

An awkwardly heavy package was thrust into his arms. The now eleven year old Shikamaru blinked and looked up at Asuma's pleased face. "Asuma-sensei, you didn't have to-"

"I wanted to," the teacher butted in, as he nudged the wrapped gift towards his student, in a way reminiscent of Shikamaru nudging the shougi board towards him when they first met.

Shikamaru thanked him as he set about carefully unwrapping the weighty object. Asuma noticed the small, pleased smile on his face, which soon morphed into a look of confusion.

"It's a goban," Asuma stated the obvious as he placed the paper to one side. 'I though it's high time you had one of your own.'

Shikamaru glanced down at the object in his hands. "I know it's a goban, but aren't they really expensive?"

Asuma shrugged. "It's somewhat of a family heirloom - I believe my grandfather bought this – apparently there were some creepy rumours about a spirit wearing robes and a tall hat that appeared or something. I don't really believe in that kind of stuff – I've never seen any ghost."

He patted the goban almost affectionately. "Usually I wouldn't have given it to you because of the history of it, but…it's a proper goban made from Kaya wood, and in good condition. I have my own goban – won it in a tournament a while back, and I hated the idea of this one sitting in the attic covered in dust – so I thought you could put it to good use."

Shikamaru laid a hand his gift, fingers tracing some red stains on the board. It wasn't blood, was it? Sweatdropping, his imagination conjured up a faceless Go player who proceeded to grab his opponent and bash his head onto the board in a fit of fury. There were truly serious players in this world obsessed with the board game, if some of Asuma's stories could be taken for truth.

His attention was drawn away from the vision when Asuma produced the two containers, filled with black and white stones.

"Go is a game that has survived for thousands of years," Asuma fell back into lecturing mode. "Black and white battle for territory, and the main objection of the game is to control a larger portion of the board than the opponent. Placing stones close together helps them support each other, as well as avoid capture. On the other hand, placing stones farther apart creates influence across more of the board. The strategic difficulty of the game is finding the balance between the conflicting interests. As a player, you have to balance between defensive and offensive purposes; choosing between strategic plans and tactical urgency."

Shikamaru listened attentively as Asuma explained a bit more, and took the book handed to him.

"I've already taught you those basic problems and territory games for the last few weeks," Asuma continued. "This book goes into more detail. Feel free to study it a little and then maybe we can play a game or two."

The boy frowned. "You mean we're not playing a game now?"

"It's not like I expect you to be able to play right off the bat,' Asuma smiled. "I thought I'd let absorb everything first. You've done pretty well on the problems before, and you've picked it up fairly quickly. But if you're so eager, we could squeeze in a game before we go to the restaurant."

Shikamaru nodded. "Just give me ten minutes," he said as he flicked through pages of the introduction, tutorials and famous Go personalities. He knew that Asuma had taught him the Go basics, but so much as to give him a Goban…he better brush up just in case.

When Shikamaru closed the book and set it aside ten minutes later, Asuma still looked slightly bemused.

"Alright then," he said. "Black always goes first, but we have to nigiri, which decides which colour we get. One person grabs a handful of white stones," he gestured by rummaging into one of the containers and grabbing a bunch, "while the other guesses whether the number is even or odd by placing down one or two stones. If they guess correctly, they get black and start the game."

Shikamaru had already known this from the book's introduction, but he said nothing as he placed one stone on the board. Asuma's explanations were clear and easy to remember anyway he thought, as they counted seven stones. It looked like Shikamaru would be black.

"Seeing as how it's your first game, I would normally give you a handicap," Asuma murmured, "but considering your aptitude in shougi, and all the other things we've covered, let's try an even game."

"Do we use the komi rule? You mentioned it."

"Oh, yes. Because of the advantage black always has over white the komi rule was made to balance it out. I believe the standard komi rule is five and a half moku. So, to win, you need to have five and a half moku more than me at the end of the game. The half point is to avoid equalities."

Asuma obviously thought that was enough of an explanation, as he bowed and said "Please," with Shikamaru following suit. He placed a stone down, and saw his teacher cough suspiciously.

"What now?" Shikamaru groaned.

"It's the way you hold your stones," Asuma pointed out. "Most beginners hold the stone between their index and thumb, rather awkwardly I might add, which makes it harder to place down stones as the board gets crowded. You hold yours a bit like the way you hold shougi pieces." Shikamaru observed the proper position, which was holding the stone between his index and middle finger.

"You're enjoying this way too much, aren't you," Shikamaru deadpanned.

The teacher grinned. "Yep."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"It doesn't matter in the long run I guess, so long as you take care where you place your piece down."

The only sounds after that were the pachi of the stones. The game steadily grew and changed shape, with Shikamaru trying to experiment with some moves he had seen in the book. There could be an infinite amount of possibilities – he didn't think anyone could predict all the possible moves, but it was an appealing game, and he found himself interested.

* * *

"Are Asuma and Shikamaru playing on that goban?" Kurenai asked, sipping her tea.

"Probably," Yoshino agreed, as she drank her own. "I think Asuma has been a good influence. Who knows what will happen next - Shikamaru could be competing or something for all I know."

Kurenai smiled. "Well, sometimes Asuma rants about how he's never beaten Shikamaru once. It's amusing actually, because he's quite proud of that too. He was telling me how he plans to drag Shikamaru into some tournament, kicking and screaming if he had to, later in the year."

Yoshino laughed sharply. "Perhaps Asuma will have a better chance to win in Go then. My father used to play that game, and Shikamaru learns quickly, so maybe he'll be even better at it than shougi. I'll blackmail him into entering a competition or two if Asuma fails." She glanced down at her cup, which was now empty. "Shikaku, more tea!" she ordered, holding out her cup for a refill.

The man in question sighed. "How troublesome," he muttered, in a very Shikamaru-like manner.

* * *

Shikamaru sneezed.

It had been a great deal later when the game had entered what was called Yose that Asuma spoke up.

"Well, what do you know? Shikamaru, looks like you've won by eight moku."

Shikamaru mentally tried his hand at counting the territories. Indeed he had, but it was only two and a half moku when you included the komi rule. "Huh, I guess you're right." He stretched his arms, working out a few kinks from hovering over the board. "Thanks for the game, Asuma-sensei." He wondered what would have happened if he put a stone down there instead…

Asuma's tone was a bit odd. "Shikamaru. Is this the first actual game you've played Go?"

Shikamaru frowned, but replied, "Yes. I mean, I've heard of the game and you've been teaching me, but I never properly played." He looked up. "It was fun. Different from shougi of course – I can't convert the stones to my side, but I liked it."

Asuma mouth, pursed in concentration, relaxed into a smile at that. "Yeah? I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Come on you two, we'll be leaving soon!" Yoshino's voice drifted from inside the house, alerting them to the time that had passed.

"Who else is coming?" Asuma questioned as they packed away the stones. (Both knew better than to incur the wrath of Nara Yoshino – though her son maybe had a bit of leeway on this day).

"Aside from you and Kurenai-sensei, Chouji and Ino's families. Our dads went to school together so we kinda grew up around each other as well."

"None of them play shougi or Go though," Shikaku's voice entered the conversation as he opened one of the sliding doors. "Are you done?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru said, standing up and carefully carrying the goban in his hands.

Shikaku nodded to Asuma. "I'll take the stones, Asuma – better see if Kurenai needs anything, eh?"

Asuma thanked him, and the two Naras deposited the goban and stones in Shikamaru's bedroom, before they joined the others in the hallway. Shikamaru thought he saw a flash of white as he walked out of the room, but put it down to his imagination.

The group of eleven was soon happily dining at a good restaurant – Chouji's parents were in the cooking business, and they knew all the best eateries.

"How's your apprenticeship by the way?" Shikamaru questioned Chouji, as they all dug in to the food. Chouji was planning on working in the family business, and had started basic chef training this year.

"Umh, it's good," Chouji said after a mouthful of pork. "Naruto keeps on bugging me to learn how to make ramen. I'm doing well though, Mum says I have a natural sense of taste, and that counts for a lot." Chouji swelled with pride at that last statement.

Ino grinned as she daintily placed down her cup. "Tell me about it! I still remember the last time we went out for lunch – you were spontaneously reviewing the restaurant, and the owner was amazed a ten year old could tell that the consistency of the soup meant it needed more spices to bring out the hidden flavour. He thought he was going to lose his credibility when he realised you were the son of the Akimichi family!" she burst out laughing.

Chouji chuckled too, abashed, and Shikamaru smirked. He knew when he and his friends grew up, there would be adult things to worry about – work, relationships, different lifestyles. With Chouji following his dream, it had meant less spare time to hang out outside of school, but with Asuma dragging around Shikamaru to salons and playing games, he was getting busier too. Shikamaru had also started brainstorming ideas and drafts on stories, but his mother said it wasn't a very stable job. His other friends had their own plans – take Ino, who worked and helped out part-time in her mother's flower shop, but was hoping to do something with her dream to work in fashion and design.

He was only eleven, and most eleven year old weren't too concerned about the future, but he hoped to be able to keep in touch with the friends he had made in school.

All this thinking was such a drag. He blushed slightly at the birthday toast the others made for him, and shared grins with Chouji and Ino as the desserts came by. He could practically hear Ino lamenting on how she was going to get fat after eating so much, and that she wouldn't be able to get Sasuke-kun's attention, but truthfully, she loved desserts as much as Chouji did. The other boy in question was already attacking the ice cream, and Shikamaru smiled as he picked up his spoon.

There would be time to dwell on the future later.

* * *

Shikamaru yawned as he stared at the alarm clock next to his bed. After the celebratory birthday dinner, the Nara family had said their goodbyes to everyone and travelled home. It was late, and Shikamaru was too lazy to get changed, so he lay back in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

His bedroom comprised of a wardrobe and cabinet, his bookshelf and desk, along with the laptop his parents had gotten him for his birthday last year. (He was surprised as he had only been ten at the time, but he wasn't complaining. His mother found double digits to be a milestone, and it had helped with schoolwork). Normally he'd use the family computer, but it had been for his dad's research or mum's papers.

His eyes drifted from the laptop to the goban, which he had placed on his desk next to the clock. He went up on one elbow and looked intently at the dark stains that were visible to his eyes, now that they had adjusted to the dark.

"I never did ask Asuma-sensei about the mark on the goban," he murmured aloud. "They looked like blood, but the pattern of the stains reminds me of tears…"

"…You can see it? You can see the stains?" a quiet, hopeful voice asked.

Shikamaru's breath hitched slightly. Okay, his mind was tired – it had been a long day, and he was practically half-asleep. Ino's dad was a psychiatrist, and hearing voices in your head was definitely not a good sign. Still.

"You can hear my voice, can't you?" the voice was even softer. "…Can you hear me?"

Shikamaru was good at thinking – something he did frequently. It was also a good reason why watching clouds was so peaceful; he could focus on floating water masses instead of listening to the buzzing ideas in his brain like he normally was.

Now, a part of his mind was rationalising the unexpected appearance of a disembodied voice, while another was wondering on the implications of the goban really being possessed by some sort of spirit. Of course, what Shikamaru found he was mostly focused on was the heartbroken, melancholic tone of the speaker.

Shikamaru slowly sat up in bed. "I can hear you." His voice was also soft, and hesitantly spoken, but it steadied. "I…I can hear your voice."

There was a tense silence. For a minute, he thought he really was going insane (_Freud would have a field day_), until, disbelievingly clear, the voice came again.

"You can? You can… All powerful God, I thank you." The voice was full of emotion and relief.

Shikamaru's eyes widened, and his breath hitched as the goban started to glow. Rising from it was a man covered in a white cloth, with long black hair and clutching a fan in his hand. He was surrounded by an ethereal glow.

Shikamaru's mind raced to conclusions. The rumours of the man dressed in white with a tall hat that appeared around the goban. Heian period clothes? A spirit appearing in his room? An Ogi-fan?

"I will now return…" The cloth had extended and covered Shikamaru as well, who was frozen in place. A slight pressure was building up in his mind. "…Return to the living world."

Well, he certainly hadn't expected this on his birthday! Shikamaru felt the breath leave his body as the pressure increased, and the next thing he knew he was welcoming the black of unconsciousness, his eyelids heavy.

* * *

And so Shikamaru finally meets Sai. Go will now be featured more prominently (after all, it's called Shikamaru no Go for a reason, not Shikamaru no Shougi – it doesn't have that ring to it).

I'm actually a bit tentative about Sai – how will I capture his personality, as well as other characters, into written words? I've been reading a bit of Hikago again; it's all kind of nostalgic, and I'm reminded why it appealed to me in the first place. I've also been reading up on Go and shougi – I can't play, but I'll at least try to understand the game, make everything more believable.

This chapter is probably fraught with plotholes and errors. Sigh.

Thank you to all those who reviewed and put this on StoryAlert, as well as all the help I had with the chapters (you know who you are!).

(Random bit of trivia: Shikamaru's birthday is the 22nd of November.)


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: In an alternate universe, a different person walked the path of Shindo Hikaru. How will Nara Shikamaru deal with a go-playing spirit, tournaments, opponents and Toya Akira? This lazy genius didn't realise how playing Go could be so troublesome…

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go belongs to Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata, but you guys should know that already, right?

* * *

**Shikamaru no Go**  
By swordsmagician

Chapter 4

Early on the morning after his eleventh birthday, Nara Shikamaru awoke to a cloudless day, feeling more tired than usual, with chores (and school) to look forward to, and one apologetic spirit.

"The hell?" The outburst was thankfully not too loud. After the initial shock (he had been hoping that last night was some hybrid hallucination/dream thing) he groaned and massaged his temples.

"Are you alright?" the spirit asked (pretty politely), concern evident.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired," Shikamaru said, rubbed his eyes disbelievingly as he stared at the ancient spirit…person…being in his room.

Nope, still there, and his eyes were fine. He sat back up into a cross-legged position. "And… who might you be?" He considered freaking out, but dismissed it. Too troublesome after his initial reaction.

"Fujiwara no Sai," the ghost answered. His eyes drifted towards the goban, which sat on Shikamaru's desk quite innocently.

"Once, long ago, I taught Go for the Emperor in the Heian Capital," he explained, smiling nostalgically. "I played Go everyday, and was so happy. There was another who also served as the Emperor's Go teacher. And one day he commented to the Emperor. 'Only one instructor is needed', he said. 'Why don't we play and the winner can remain.'"

Shikamaru listened quietly as this Sai continued his story – he had always enjoyed books, when he could bring himself to read them anyway.

"The game continued evenly. With everyone watching, it was a coincidence that only I saw it. A white stone had been somehow mixed into his basket." Shikamaru felt an unpleasant feeling in his gut as he guessed where this story was leading.

"It's rare, but sometimes one of your stones gets mixed into your opponent's. Of course that has nothing to do with the match so usually it just ends with the person saying 'Here's one of your stones,' and handing it over.' Sai's voice was unsettled as he remembered back to the day. "But he…waited for the right moment and…Added it to his captured stones."

"He cheated…," Shikamaru muttered grimly, the unpleasant feeling explained for. "He could have felt threatened by your skill, or unsure in his own, so he tried to defeat you underhandedly." The spirit sighed, sadly nodding as he continued.

"When I raised my voice, my opponent accused me of cheating, just as he had done. The emperor told us to quiet down and continue. With my mind still unravelled, I lost…"

There was a pause, as Sai persisted with the rest of his story in a hoarse voice. "Also branded a cheater, I was driven from the capital. I no longer wished to live, and I drowned myself two days later."

The eleven year old was quiet for a minute. "You… never thought of moving somewhere else and trying a fresh start? Would you have been able to do that then?" he asked as his mind dragged up details of the Heian period sluggishly, straining to remember.

Sai smiled weakly. "I had lost my honour as a Go player. But my soul was unable to rise to heaven. I wanted…to play more Go."

"So, you really are a ghost or spirit of some sort? Just to be sure. For a minute, I thought I was going mad."

"Yes. My spirit attached itself to the goban. Time passed until I could hear the voice of a young boy. 'Nobody else can see the stains. Why am I the only one who can see these stains which look like tears?'"

Sai smiled contentedly. "I said, 'Young child, if you are able to see my tears of sorrow…then let me occupy a part of your mind.' The child was interested in Go and took me on willingly. And I was able to play as much as I wished. He would become a great Go player, but died of disease at age of thirty four."

Sai covered the bottom half of his face with his fan. "His name was Honinbo Shusaku. He was a good person."

"Honinbo Shusaku? I think I've read a little about him." The name rang a bell as Shikamaru picked up the Go book from yesterday and flipped through. "It says here his name was originally Kuwabara Torajiro, known as the invincible Shusaku. He… passed away of cholera while tending to his students." He paused in contemplation. "It must be his blood I saw on the goban…"

"Yes."

Shikamaru sat back thoughtfully. This… was a lot to take in.

It was humbling, the boy thought, at the insight he had into Sai's life. He himself felt affection for shougi, and maybe even Go, but Sai's love far surpassed the conventional borders of reality. It had become a reason for existence, and Sai's love for the game was almost painful.

Shikamaru really couldn't imagine himself in Sai's place.

Sai's smile to Shikamaru's previous comment was bittersweet. "I haven't played in a long time, not since Torajiro. You are the only one who can see me now anyway."

Shikamaru glanced at the goban. "So, you've remained because you want to play?"

"Yes. For I have yet to achieve the Hand of God *," Sai answered dreamily.

"The divine move?" Shikamaru glanced back at the spirit seated elegantly beside him on the bed. He stared at the spirit for a little while, causing Sai to blink at the attention, before he stood up and stretched. "You must really love Go. Considering how you must've been haunting the goban for so long…"

Sai watched as Shikamaru scratched his head. "How troublesome. Normally, it'd have nothing to do with me. I don't play Go." Shikamaru turned, and sweatdropped at Sai's face, which had changed into one of utter despair that (in different circumstances) could be almost comical. He wondered if Sai would haunt him and drive him to letting him play anyway – could spirits do that? If anyone could, this Fujiwara no Sai probably would figure out a way to satisfy his obsession.

"But, by an amazing coincidence, I've been learning to play it." He let out a breath of air. "Seeing as how you're here anyway, I'd best get ready and show you around. Maybe we can figure out how you can play Go later."

Sai's eyes widened. "You mean I'll be able to play?" he asked eagerly.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Why not? Seeing as you're here and all. I've really only started playing Go, but there are always places for it, and the internet. I suppose I should be able to figure _something_ out for you."

Sai's eyes practically sparkled, reminding Shikamaru a bit of Hajime. It was kind of endearing… and slightly disturbing.

"Thank you so much! What's your name?"

Shikamaru had never been hugged by a spirit before, but he took it all in stride as a small smile somehow found its way across his face. "Shikamaru. My name is Nara Shikamaru."

* * *

Shikamaru was dressed in his school uniform (he wanted more sleep damn it!) as he made his way through the house to the back. "Mum and Dad should wake up soon, but they're still sleeping – we came pretty late last night. Lucky, that. They would have freaked if I fainted on them."

"Your house is nice," Sai said, glancing around. He looked almost comfortable, and Shikamaru realised he must be relaxed in his house because of familiar elements from his time period. Sure, there were modern things all over the place, making the Nara household a sort of hybrid of traditional and modern elements, but his mother wrote papers on Japanese history, and his dad's family had always been steeped in history…

_Yeah, our house is ok_ he mused, and when Sai nodded, Shikamaru realised he had heard what he now dubbed his thought-speak. _Well, at least no one can accuse me of speaking to an imaginary friend or something_.

Sai's steps faltered as he followed Shikamaru outside. The Nara family had a large block of land because of Nara Shikaku's work.

"Why is it that you have deer?" Sai questioned, head tilted to one side, as Shikamaru set about feeding the 'tenants' of his family. They were used to the young Nara, and they were (most of the time) mild mannered and easier to deal with than, say, the dogs that his classmate Kiba's family raised.

"My dad does medical research – he specialises in the medicinal uses of the deer's antlers," Shikamaru explained. "Apparently our clan have raised deer for a long time – we have relatives in Nara who still take care of them." Shikamaru idly scratched behind the ears of one of the females. His family bore the Nara name, maybe as homage to their ancestral roots? What with the shrine and all…

"Really?" Sai wondered, partially distracted as he observed a deer that was sniffing his robe.

Shikamaru smiled slightly as he watched the man and deer interact. Having a spirit like Sai around didn't seem too bad. _My mother would have loved to talk to you_, Shikamaru thought-spoke to Sai. _She does articles on Japanese history, and you'd be a great source for one of her papers – imagine, a primary account of the Heian period. _

"Shikamaru!"

Speak of the devil; his mother was marching towards him, wearing a dressing gown over her rumpled sleeping wear. She slowed down and stared at Shikamaru almost disbelievingly. "You're awake?"

Shikaku followed soon after, already dressed. "He's eleven years old now – he doesn't always need your help to wake up. He has an alarm clock for that."

Too late, Shikamaru realised, what with Sai's appearance, he had woken up on his own, without any nagging on his mother's side. Practically a once-in-a-blue-moon event.

After the events of last night and early morning, breakfast was a normal affair. That is, if it weren't for the comments from Yoshino about how grown up he was getting, and doing his chores without being harassed. Shikaku wasn't really helping, staring at Shikamaru quizzically sometimes, while mildly making comments that were really just his way of teasing his son. And Sai was perched on one of the empty chairs next to his parents. It was really weird, seeing your parents unaware of their extra guest, who was asking wondrous questions about the fridge, and the television, and the toaster…

For all his childlike inquisitiveness, Sai would probably get on his nerves at times. Shikamaru promised to himself to try to be patient. If he could deal with unruly school mates and the resident prankster's antics, he could get through this without too many migraines.

Right?

* * *

Our (intrepid hero) lazy protagonist fought the urge to hit his head on the desk as another wave of nausea washed over him. How the hell was he supposed to know that when Sai got overemotional he started feeling the effects? Right now he was experiencing wooziness and strange flickering lights…

He dimly wondered if this was what his father felt like when he got drunk with Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza on their get-togethers.

_Note to self – stay away from alcohol._

* * *

"What is that strange bird?"

The ball hurtled at breakneck speeds, narrowly missed Shikamaru's face. Time slowed, with the innocent looking object passing him by in slow motion. Sai had spotted a helicopter, it seemed, and the momentary distraction was almost fatal for Shikamaru. If it hadn't been for his fast reflexes…

…he would probably be in Sakura's position right now, which was lying spread-eagled on the grassy oval.

Both spirit and boy (flinched) watched as she slowly got up from the face-plant and proceeded to channel her violent Inner-Sakura, scaring the younger brat who'd kicked the ball in the first place. "SHANNARO!"

* * *

"Can anyone tell me the repercussions of the Meiji Restoration period?" Iruka-sensei glanced around the room.

Sai prodded Shikamaru anxiously, who was slumped forward on the table. He couldn't take it any more – a nap was in order, and he didn't give a damn.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

Iruka-sensei's eyes missed nothing. A slight eye-twitch was the only warning for the rest of the class to slowly begin inching backwards. Kiba was doodling on his textbook and paying no attention whatsoever, but even he paused at the sense of danger permeating the air.

Umino Iruka, while loved by all, was a dangerous individual in the form of an unassuming school teacher. And for a man who wore his heart on his sleeve, he could be downright sneaky when he wanted to be.

Students watched in anticipation as their teacher calculated the angle and trajectory, his weapon leaving his hand. In slow motion, the object gained acceleration in its graceful curve mid-air…

WHACK!

The students cheered as the bit of chalk bounced off Shikamaru's head and thwacked the student behind him, which was Kiba. Iruka just smiled enigmatically as Shikamaru scratched his head from the hit and exchanged knowing glances with Kiba – trust their amazing sensei to hit two birds with one stone.

Er, chalk.

Iruka-sensei picked up his book nonchalantly. "Now, where were we?"

* * *

"How was school?" Yoshino called to Shikamaru as he dragged his feet into the house.

"Meh, same old." _Hah. _

"You were playing on the goban with someone yesterday," Sai said later, as they were ensconced in Shikamaru's room. Aside from the…eventful day, Sai had apologised for any trouble he had caused, which Shikamaru just brushed aside, citing 'It wasn't THAT troublesome…'

"Asuma-sensei's the one teaching me Go, so we had a game."

"Teaching you?" Sai asked perplexed. "But I thought you defeated him – and you were playing very well for a beginner! I wouldn't mind playing a game against you."

Shikamaru was mildly surprised. Sai was probably some kind of Go genius, and considering how Honinbo Shusaku had been hailed as a Go saint in his day, he hadn't expected the spirit to want to play with him. "Really?" _Well, he hasn't played Go in years, so he's probably itching for any game, regardless the opponent._

Sai nodded. "Has Go changed much?"

"Not so much changed as evolved. But really, I don't know too much about the history of Go, so I can't be sure." Shikamaru placed the goban between them and got out the stones. "Do you want to play a game then?"

The spirit brightened as he clasped his hands together enthusiastically. "Oh yes!"

"Is it okay if we use this goban?" It _was_ the one Sai had been trapped in for so long; maybe he was sick of it, bringing up bad memories?

"I don't mind."

"Well, I can put down the stones for you, so just point where you want me to put them, 'cause I don't know all the Go terms." The eleven year old opened the lids of the go ke and revealed the black and white stones. "First thing's first, in the present day there is something called the komi rule…"

* * *

Sai stared at the game. How long had Shikamaru said he had been playing again? He couldn't remember asking earlier.

When the game had started (Sai was black), with Shikamaru placing down the stones to where he indicated with his fan, he had cried tears of happiness. The boy had looked up and noticed this, before quickly averting his eyes and making his own move. He was a sharp one, as Sai noticed the flash of understanding in his eyes – how many years had it been since he had last played a game?

His moves were a bit rusty, but Sai enjoyed the game immensely. Shikamaru didn't seem to have much experience in Go compared to him (he held the stones incorrectly, and some moves were strange indeed), but he was adept at reading ahead, and Sai found himself testing the boy's skill again and again.

Once, he had created a problem with one of the clusters, and the boy brought his two hands together to form some sort of hand seal or gesture, thumbs and fingers making a circle. After holding it for a minute (with Sai wondering if it was some form of meditation) Shikamaru put down his hand, and Sai was watching the eyes of a serious professional, not a boy just playing a strategy game. He then defeated the problem in the next few moves, while threatening one of Sai's own clusters, forcing him to assemble into a more defensive mode against Shikamaru.

Sai soon figured out that Shikamaru was very good at realising which moves to make that would be the best to his advantage, and while Sai was the better player, Shikamaru had an innate talent and skill in the field of strategy and tactics. Sai couldn't help but marvel at the eleven year old boy sitting before him. With more time and experience, he could become a great Go player – and a worthy rival. But he had a way to go. His moves were excellent and well calculated, but there was something lacking, for a better turn.

Sai had been dominating most of the board, but Shikamaru was responding well, and hadn't given up territory without putting up a fight. Indeed, some of Shikamaru's moves were quite unorthodox, but Sai attributed that to his opponent's incomplete understanding in the intricacies of Go, or changes over time. He'd have to learn all the things that had changed…

His breath hitched slightly as his opponent made a terrible mistake. _That stone has no purpose…he should have strengthened the cluster in the right hand corner… _Impassively, Shikamaru didn't say anything. Sai's eyes wandered from the stone to his opponent calculatingly, before making his move.

And suddenly, in a few turns, the meaningless stone became _much_ more important in the game. When Sai looked at him again, Shikamaru's mouth was turned up slightly at the edge, and a hint of amusement was lurking behind dark eyes as he stared back.

For all his supposed laziness, this child had a spark of something more, as opposed to the more apathetic look he had been sporting when they had first started the Go game. It seemed all he needed was a serious game to be able to bring him out of it. In the end, however, when they hadn't even reached Yose, Shikamaru sighed, and scratched his head. "How troublesome. I resign."

Sai was not surprised at the resignation – he knew Shikamaru had noticed the obvious difference in strength – but he was a bit curious at the timing. "May I enquire as to why?"

Shikamaru let out a breath as he crossed his arms and surveyed the board. "It was inevitable. I've already tried to counter your moves and think ahead of you, but you're too good, and considering your profession, I can see why."

Sai smiled at the praise from behind his fan as Shikamaru continued. "By my calculations, even after planning two hundred possible moves, I still would have lost in the end, badly, and I was pretty much getting my ass kicked around the goban anyway."

The spirit paused. "Possible moves?"

Not noticing Sai's puzzlement at the idea of him trying two hundred moves in his head, Shikamaru scrutinised the goban. "You're very ruthless in Go – if I hadn't put down a stone there, you would have cut my territory to pieces. I had to play all out and see which moves brought me the best advantage, and it still wasn't enough. How troublesome. Not that I expected to win anyway," Shikamaru continued. 'You're you, after all. And prior to this, I've only really played a grand total of one game of Go.'

Shikamaru found it strange, but entertaining nonetheless, when Sai was rendered speechless.

"Playing shougi must have helped my thinking skills. Picking up Go wasn't too hard," he said, feeling a bit self-conscious. "What? Was I that bad?"

Sai snapped himself out of his reverie. "No, you played very well," he assured the boy. "With your potential and some training, you'll be an amazing player."

"Training? For me?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a lot of work. I don't think I'll be up to it."

The spirit sighed to himself as the boy continued to observe their finished game. Trust Shikamaru to be some sort of genius, but with such lazy tendencies. It seems what he was lacking the most was motivation.

Steeling his nerves, Sai decided to fashion some sort of training regime, maybe even a few practice matches. As much as he loved to play Go, he was a teacher at heart (he _had_ tutored the emperor), and Shikamaru needed all the encouragement and badgering he could get.

* * *

Shikamaru may have an IQ over 200, but Sai is a Go saint (Honinbo Shusaku was in any case), so there's no way he could be defeated. I hope the game was believable; Shikamaru has a lot of untapped potential, and Sai knows this, but for Shikamaru to defeat him would be unrealistic and out of character. In any case, it looks like Sai has a protégé now

It took me a while (I wasn't sure about the first Go match), but I'm glad I've got it done – it's much longer than normal! I'll be trying to inject more humour and action, for a better term, as I feel my story is dragging a bit. Wouldn't want my readers to fall asleep!

Hope those reviews keep coming! Thanks for all the encouragement! ~ SM


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: In an alternate universe, a different person walked the path of Shindo Hikaru. How will Nara Shikamaru deal with a go-playing spirit, tournaments, opponents and Toya Akira? This lazy genius didn't realise how playing Go could be so troublesome…

Disclaimer: If I owned Hikaru no Go…I probably wouldn't have been able to invent it anyway, I don't play Go or even speak Japanese! And instead of Sai disappearing, he'd have a body so he could actually hold the go stones and face off against Toya Meijin in a battle of EPIC proportions.

* * *

**Shikamaru no ****Go**  
By swordsmagician

Chapter 5

Okay, so his life hadn't changed as dramatically as he had thought it would with the appearance of Sai. He was still lazy, still barely passing class, and still playing shougi with his father and Asuma-sensei. But there were the smaller things; the changes in schedule that crept up on you and wormed their way into your life.

One of them was surprising and unexpected – Sai had unwittingly influenced his calligraphy, which was now neater and quite beautiful. Shikamaru put it down to Sai being well versed in poetry, calligraphy, music, and other things a typical high-class Heian period nobleman would know. It certainly helped his haiku composing skills.

In a sense, both of them were still learning; only Sai was learning the newer aspects of the modern era and its Go, while he himself was starting from the basics in Go.

He'd had to find a way to accommodate Sai as well, to try to satisfy his wish to play Go. Sometimes they would play a match or two together (for some reason Sai thought it fitting to pass on some of his knowledge). But Sai needed other opponents, not just some eleven year old who was the only one that realised he was hanging around.

So Shikamaru introduced Sai to NetGo.

* * *

Shikamaru flicked aside the cloth cover to reveal a computer and printer on his desk. Sai peered at the gadgets curiously.

"What is this…box?"

"It's called a computer," Shikamaru explained, as he pressed the start button and waited for it to start up and load. "If you want, you can play Go on this. Basically, there's this site which lets us play against people around the world who also have computers. Most will be amateurs," he continued, "but that means there might be more experimental plays. Sometimes pros have accounts too, so I'm sure you'll find some good games…"

"I can play Go on this magic box? How intriguing," Sai asked, perplexed at the thought.

"Of course. The best thing," Shikamaru typed a little before he got onto the NetGo site, "is that the internet is anonymous. You'll be able to play against opponents as Sai if you wanted."

"I can…play as myself?"

'Yeah,' Shikamaru answered. 'Do you want to use Sai as your account name?'

"Yes please," Sai answered, feeling a bit teary. "I'd like that."

After that, Sai really made a name for himself online. Shikamaru could still remember how he freaked when he logged in to let Sai play online and was literally _flooded_ with game requests.

"You're really popular Sai. It's kind of scary…" He said as he declined them all, clicking the boxes at warp-speed.

Then…

"Sai, you have entire _forums_ devoted to your games!"

It took a while for Shikamaru to realise that Sai had been voted as the strongest player on the NetGo site after some months, and it looked like people couldn't get enough of him. Being the header of the top 10 players (by fans and other NetGo players) had certainly helped to get stronger opponents, like some of those foreign European pros. Shikamaru was pretty good at English, but Sai had a habit of never having conversation online except for pleasantries.

_What next_, Shikamaru shook his head as he scrolled down, reading titles like IHeartSai, The Sai-sama Admiration League (TSAL), Who Is Sai? and TopTenNetGoPlayers. _Are there random people in Japan with secret shrines dedicated to you, their closets full of your past games? Any cults and fanclubs I should know about?_

The Sai Appreciation Society would not have been amused.

Along with the Sai Fanclub, who met weekly and talked about their God over tea.

Feeling a little paranoid (for some unexplained reason put down as intuition), Shikamaru updated his computer with the latest firewalls and other internet security software he could get his hands on. A classmate had experienced problems when someone tried to hack into his emails and fill it with love confessions. The last things Shikamaru wanted was some Sai-obsessed harasser to try to track him via his IP address like Sasuke's fangirls.

However, both boy and spirit remained oblivious to the fact that the NetGo site had been warding off hackers and rabid Go connoisseurs _before_ Shikamaru had taken precautions.

(And that one of the administrators of the site was a hardcore Sai fangirl, who made it her mission that Sai was given proper privacy and the utmost esteem befitting _the_ NetGo legend.)

Elsewhere, Waya (with the handle of _Zelda_) was shuffling things in his closet to make room for more _Sai_ kifu he had managed to track down online.

…Yes, well, moving on.

Shikamaru had also taken to writing down all the games they had played out on _kifu_ paper (as Asuma had shown him), and maintaining an electronic archive of all of Sai's games that he updated regularly.

"Why record all of my games?" Sai had asked one day.

"Why not? We have to record how many asses you've kicked, right? Besides, these are great games – I could probably compile a complete selection of books the size of encyclopaedias with the material."

"…You are not serious, right?"

"Sai, all the huge Go players probably have them. Shougi players do too. We can call it something like 'Fujiwara no Sai: Collection of Games with a God of Go', and use the money to start up a Go Museum with various paraphernalia. It seems like something you'd enjoy."

"B-but I'm not a God of Go!"

"Well, you're a Go Saint – would you prefer if I add that instead?"

"Shikamaruuuu!"

* * *

Shikamaru eventually formed a general schedule. As much as Sai wanted to play Go, he had a life to maintain. Every night time was set aside for Sai to play Go online, while he completed his homework simultaneously. (Thank you multitasking). Normally he _would_ be procrastinating, except the spirit kept bugging him to finish.

Moral: Sai could out-nag his mother any day.

Of course, it was only so long before he realised that Sai would want to play in a Go-salon, like he had mentioned vaguely when they first met.

"But I would like to be able to face my opponent across a goban too! It's not the same on the box with opponents."

At first, Shikamaru had been adamant.

"You're forgetting that it'll be my face that gets linked to your abilities," he retorted. "I don't like the idea of masquerading around with skills that aren't my own. It feels like cheating. Not to mention, if Asuma realises, he'll start asking questions. And he doesn't exactly believe in spirits or the supernatural."

Shikamaru knew that, for all his sensible reasons and excuses, sooner or later he would surrender to Sai's demands and pleadings. Worse, Sai knew him well enough to know it too. Being an easygoing kind of guy, he would normally take the road of least resistance. And Sai begged, pleaded, cajoled, used puppy dog eyes, and blackmailed to try to get his host ( to put it in uncertain terms) to agree.

It was only a matter of time before Shikamaru gave in here.

On various escapades to said salons, Shikamaru had to take precautions, seeing as how Sai was preoccupied with playing. He parents trusted him not to be back too late, and he carried a phone set onto silent and vibration at all times. He'd taken to wearing 'disguises' (admittedly half-assed), in the hopes that people wouldn't link his face too much with Sai's playing. It can be amazing how just a plain hoodie and jeans, with a cap to hide his spiky ponytail, and wire-rimmed glasses could make him nondescript. Nothing too drastic was really needed.

He highlighted all the go salons on his map, choosing to alternate randomly among them, preferably the quieter and more secluded salons. He steered clear from the Go haunts Asuma favoured – the last thing he needed was to run into his teacher. He also tried to take different routes – the last thing he needed was someone to chase after him for a rematch.

Once, one of Sai's opponents had been some crazy high ranking amateur, and Shikamaru had had to employ martial arts skills from school to outrun him. He still popped up now and again, much to Shikamaru's annoyance, and Sai's embarrassment.

Why did he always meet the weirdest people? Maybe Sai attracted them with his spiritual aura…

* * *

Kage was made up of the elementary, middle school and high school sections. Overall, it was a good public school, aside from some not-so-typical traits.

Spars would spontaneously take place in the school yard before teachers would break them up by hitting pressure points. The PE teacher wore a spandex suit (said person in question was one of those people whom all somehow loved and despaired). Another instructor had silver locks that defied all laws of gravity. Some of the well-known alumni of the school included a horror film movie director, a renowned doctor, and a novelist (of romantic smut if you believed the rumours). A number of students were inclined towards using windows instead of doors when entering or leaving the building. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for people to mistake the place for a stunt school.

Ultimately, the Kage name was best known for its martial arts and quirky school culture. Sai had been amused when Shikamaru told him that the students of Kage were commonly referred to as 'ninjas' for that very reason.

Shikamaru and his peers were in the elementary school, where they were known as 'genin'. Later, when they graduated to middle school, they were called 'chuunin', and 'jounin' was the term coined for the high school students. Prefects and class representatives were called 'hunternin' (for they would track you down if you created trouble and they caught you red-handed). 'Tokubetsu chuunin and jounin' were the middle and high school students who were in the special accelerated classes, or were specialising in a chosen field.

The ranking system even included the teachers, which the students had jokingly referred to them as the 'ANBU' (**An**noying **Bu**ggers) aka the Dark Side. The school slang was even used by the teachers themselves, and had become a part of the unique way of life that is the Kage school experience.

Though there was the extra Go playing and Sai-related things, Shikamaru didn't broach the subject of the spirit with his parents, friends or Asuma-sensei. Obviously, it was too farfetched – "Hey guys, did you know the goban I got for my birthday was possessed and now I'm being haunted by the soul of a Heian period Go playing ghost?"

Even Chouji, the most loyal friend he could ask for, would think he had gone off the deep end. And Ino's psychiatrist dad, Inoichi, would probably come up with schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder. Shikamaru was pretty sure Sai wasn't a figment of his imagination; otherwise he'd probably be able to play shougi too, right?

And it was too strange to even contemplate that an alternate personality would manifest as Sai.

Even _thinking_ about it all was annoying. _Mendokusei..._

He was watching clouds on the school roof at lunch, envious at how they floated by without a care in the world. Sai acted a lot like a child, one who had mistaken a helicopter for a bird, and was mystified by vending machines. Shikamaru found it annoying most of the time, but he tried to be accommodating, explaining things patiently – it wasn't Sai's fault that he was surprised by things in the modern day. He seemed truly serious only when it came to Go, and when it came to that he was insatiable.

Every week or two Shikamaru would still accompany Asuma on trips to Climbing Silver, where he played against various regulars and was more or less accosted by Hajime for games. He liked to play against him, but Hajime's subtle hints to take up shougi as an occupation had become more blatant over time. Apparently he thought Shikamaru had 'what it takes to become a shougi pro'. Shikamaru had to stifle a snicker at the thought. Him, a pro? Aside from the complete lack of ambition and motivation on his part, he didn't think to play shougi for a living. A hobby, yes, maybe after he retired or whatever, but not a career.

Hajime was pouting. (There was something about the man that just struck a chord with Sai, Shikamaru thought). "Not even a little bit of interest to follow my footsteps?" he wheedled.

Shikamaru pursed his lips in mock thought. "No. Sorry." It wasn't any use getting Ha-kun's hopes up.

Ha-kun wallowed dispiritedly in a corner, while Kuroda berated him to stop growing mushrooms in the salon.

"There'll be other kids to inspire to take the shougi path. What about Go instead?" Asuma asked, taking up the train of conversation Hajime had abandoned. He was in the middle of a game with one of the regulars, a middle-aged woman affectionately called Sora-hime by the other shougi players. Shikamaru had learnt quickly to beware her suspiciously blatant and obvious moves – she was very crafty in her games, and they were often traps within traps within traps. Within traps, even.

"Go pros too?" he said with a groan, slightly incredulous. _It's still amazing people play shougi or Go for a living. Like those Chess Grandmasters you hear about overseas._

Asuma smiled. "It's practically a sub-culture." Asuma openly enjoyed watching Shikamaru play (and win) against customers (who were often years apart in age difference). Shikamaru had a sneaking suspicion that there was some kind of betting pool behind his back – money exchanged hands quite frequently when he was around…

Hajime came back to reality with those previous words, leaving his shadowy corner to try his hand at throttling Asuma mid-game. "You fool! Shougi is obviously superior!"

Sai took this insult to his beloved Go personally, and began spouting passionate speeches on its greatness, fan waving wildly, while Asuma turned an instant shade of blue. "A-air Hajime, you basta-ach!" Kuroda always had to break them up, mentioning that a murder would force him to close the place down.

"Igo has been around before you were born, and you have the audacity to judge? Such a noble game cannot be compared to shougi on the grounds of differing practices, ignorant fool!"

Shikamaru tuned out Sai's rant and the fight with ease (hinting at long practice and common occurrences). His musings were interrupted when the salon TV in the corner flickered, its screen showing a Go match of all things. Shikamaru deftly moved left to dodge Hajime's desperate lunge for the remote.

"Shikamaru, the inside of the mysterious box – there's a person playing Go!" Sai said, his ramblings forgotten.

"Oh, this is the Tengen tournament," Asuma said (now safe from Hajime's previous chokehold and unaware that he was answering to the spirit). Hajime was trying to steal the remote out of Asuma's outstretched hands, who had evidently decided payback was in order.

"Just give me_ the effing remote_!" Ha-kun spazzed while hollering in the background.

Asuma smirked, waving the remote playfully out of reach. "That player is Toya Meijin – they say he's the closest person to the Hand of God."

Shikamaru could just sense Sai freeze up next to him, suddenly quiet. He glimpsed at the spirit who was entranced with the match. _They share the same goal…_

Sai's eyes were fastened on the Go player on the box. He was a stern looking man, dressed traditionally, and the look in his eyes confirmed him as a player of the highest calibre. _A man chasing the Hand of God as I do. The way he plays isn't simply that of a Meijin. Even in Shusaku's era there weren't many that could play like this. This man…!_

"You've been improving a lot Shikamaru. Soon I'll probably need handicaps when I play Go with you. Is it just hellish practice on your part, or is someone else also giving you tutoring? There are pros are available for that kind of thing, you know."

Shikamaru shook his head slightly, his attention drawing back to Asuma.

"…Not really. I've been playing a lot more NetGo though – thanks for the books you lent me too."

"No problem." His teacher gestured a hand dismissively as he exhaled a plume of smoke. "I haven't really got much to teach you now. You've improved remarkably in Go over the past year, and you haven't slacked off your shougi skills as well."

Hajime snorted, calm again after Kuroda had switched off the TV to prevent bloodshed. "Good for you then Shika-kun. Not that it's particularly hard to surpass this guy." He patted Asuma on the back, who swiped at him in retaliation, muttering something about bodily harm and trench knives.

Shikamaru grinned slightly. Between Sai and Asuma-sensei, he _had_ improved drastically. Luckily he had dedicated and talented teachers, who could put up with his less-than-hardworking attitude.

"Oh, do you think that kid's coming over today as well?" Sora-hime abruptly wondered aloud, finger tapping her chin in thought. "I was hoping he would pass by today for more games. He was quite a character…"

"Who?" Shikamaru asked.

Kuroda shrugged. "A boy passed by a couple of days before and defeated some of the regulars here. He'll probably come back for a rematch – Ha-kun went all _shougi-pro_ and wiped the floor with him. Still, the kid had skills." Some of the adults eyeballed Shikamaru slyly. Hajime did it openly. Shikamaru sweatdropped. And like magic, the topic of their conversation interrupted their small talk with a slam of the door.

The boy casually observed the salon and its inhabitants. He had red hair. Really red hair. It was dark, and rather spiky.

…Was it dyed?

"Well, this place looks as lively as ever. Anyone up for a shougi game this time around?"

One of the customers coughed something which sounded suspiciously like 'immature brat'. The boy's reckless grin only widened. "Got that right, old man. Any takers?"

Hajime rose immediately, draping an arm around Shikamaru. "Well now, someone who isn't more than twice your age! Come on," he then made shooing motions to Shikamaru, who scoffed slightly before ambling over to the shougi board, where the other boy had stationed himself in the seat across from him.

The other boy eyed Shikamaru, sizing him up. "So, pineapple. You strong?"

The question hung between the two, one confident, and the other more indolent. Shikamaru closed his eyes briefly, hand idly tapping a shougi piece.

"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty strong."

The grin grew wilder. "Good."

Spectators came, saw and went, but under the watchful eyes of Hajime and the ever-present Sai the game started, grew, lengthened, changed, and became something different altogether.

The newcomer moved a pawn.

_Parry!_ Shikamaru moved one of his own.

_Thrust!_ His opponent grimaced before shifted his knight that threatened a bishop.

_Swipe!_ Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, as he bystepped the situation and captured a rook.

Both boys were caught up in tactics and the strategic positioning of their armies, like generals gauging their foe's weaknesses. It was at times like these that Sai could appreciate how Shikamaru could process so many different possible outcomes. Playing shougi had helped Shikamaru's Go, as he already had the right mindset for the game.

In the end Shikamaru leaned back and stretched his arms languidly, shifting his neck from the slight cramp. His opponent was also showing signs of deliberation on their game, frowning slightly as he stretched a little. It was a tough game, and he'd been surprised by some of the moves the other had pulled.

"Hey. What's your name anyway?"

"I'm Nara Shikamaru. And you?"

The confident grin made a comeback from its serious contemplation earlier. "It's Kaga Tetsuo."

Shikamaru hummed noncommittally as they both stared down at the board quietly.

"I suppose we'd better stop," he supplied.

"Hm," Kaga said, scratching his hair. "Nothing much we can do now."

"Finished?" Asuma asked as he made his way across from his conversation with Sora-hime.

"Pretty much," Hajime replied with eyes fixated on the board, as if searching for a message from the gods or some sort of divine sign among the pieces.

"…And? Who won?"

Kaga and Shikamaru glance blankly at each other before answering Asuma in unison. "Stalemate."

Asuma had a closer look, mouth twisted and eyes scrunched up with interest. "So it is."

* * *

No one had to say anything when Kaga came to frequent the Climbing Silver after the first two visits and his tie with Shikamaru. They expected it – the salon attracted interesting players after all.

"Why the hell did you put that there? That was a crappy move!"

"Like you're one to talk! You walked right into my trap _Ha-kun_!"

"I entered the trap on purpose! Who's the shougi pro here, _Tetsuo-kun_? Pay me the proper respect!"

"Like hell I will! Oi brat – back me up here!"

Shikamaru sighed at one of the numerous fights that took place (he wasn't really a brat, was he?) It wasn't uncommon to see Kaga and Hajime wage war on the shougi board and in conversation, both of them smoking and jabbering at one another.

"That'll never happen to me," Shikamaru muttered as he and Sora-hime stared at the quarrel that would continue to escalate if Kuroda or Asuma didn't step in.

"Just you wait," Sora-hime smiled gently while calmly drinking her tea. "Your time'll come."

"Yeah right," Shikamaru brushed the ludicrous thought aside.

Somewhere, Toya Akira sneezed.

* * *

Sora-hime may have strange precognitive abilities – either that or I've just been reading too much xxxHolic…

I have been aiming to release a chapter every month or so, though I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep it up at this rate. And Kaga appeared much earlier somehow.

Aside from the surprise mention right at the end, Akira will be making his debut next chapter! (I can just hear the grumbles of _finally!_ from Akira fans). And hopefully Ogata and Toya Koyo will appear soon if all goes to plan.

Maybe there won't be tons of typos and grammatical errors in this chapter, though I wouldn't be too surprised. Any suggestions on what may be or your take on the direction of this fic? Then review! They are all appreciated, as well as the time taken to read my story.

~ SwordsMagician

(And no, etowa-ru, I am not sado-masochistic! SM indeed…)


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: In an alternate universe, a different person walked the path of Shindo Hikaru. How will Nara Shikamaru deal with a go-playing spirit, tournaments, opponents and Toya Akira? This lazy genius didn't realise how playing Go could be so troublesome…

Disclaimer: I'm making no money from this, though it would have been welcomed…I need a job…

* * *

**Shikamaru no Go  
**By swordsmagician

Chapter 6

"Shikamaruuuu…"

"…"

"…Shikamaru?"

"Zzzzzz…"

"Shikamaru! You shouldn't sleep in class, you'll get into trouble! Do you not take your education seriously?"

Sai was currently trying to rouse his charge – in vain. Shikamaru always slept through class anyway. Iruka-sensei was blabbering on about something historical in the background (like he properly paid attention; half the things Shikamaru knew were from his mother's academic papers).

"_Be a good son and read over my papers, okay?"_

"_Mendokusei…"_

"_Don't 'medokusei' me! You're way too much like you're father young man…" _

"Shikamaru, can we visit a Go-salon later then?" Sai asked hopefully, changing tact in favour of his favourite pastime.

Shikamaru pondered the question as he shook himself wearily out of his nap. Iruka-sensei's patented Laser Glare of Killer Intent™ was focusing on his form, so he raised his head, yawning as slowly picked up his pencil before it could go from stun to destroy. Iruka-sensei nodded to himself in satisfaction before focusing on his next victim, who happened to be Naruto – it looked like he was in the middle of planning another prank. That guy was just asking for trouble.

_Hmmm, I don't know…_

"Please?" Sai wheedled. Shikamaru felt a little dizzy. _Oh, no, not again…_ Sai's emotions still spilled over to him from time to time, but he'd gotten used to them over the time they had spent together.

The twelve year old watched Sai, whose eyes were now wide open and sparkly. Well, it **had** been a while since their last escapade…

_Maybe we could try a bigger salon this time – better known. The players may be stronger, or at least more varied for you to choose from. Anyway, your stalker has started to pick up our pattern of visiting more secluded salons, so it's probably for the best. We'll go later, yeah?_ Thank god for the map Asuma-sensei gave him. He'd managed to track other ones down via the street directory.

"Yes! That would be wonderful!" Sai cheered, his hands pressed to his cheeks. The edge of Shikamaru's mouth twitched upwards of their own accord at Sai's obvious happiness, before he sighed internally and glanced back down at his work.

Sai spent most of his time thinking, exploring the school and amusing himself while Shikamaru was holed up in classes. Sai was so amazed by some of the things people had come up with these days.

His thoughts turned to Shikamaru while he was making his way down the school corridor, a bunch of younger school kids unwittingly running through his form.

_Shikamaru lets me play a lot online, and even when we go out to salons, _Sai thought to himself,_ but between my games and his shougi, his Go may suffer. He needs more opponents, or a good rival. I was able to play against interesting players, like Ota Yuzo, but Torajiro was content to allow me to participate in matches. How would Torajiro's Go career gone if I hadn't interfered? There's only so much you can learn from one person without being restricted. _

_Maybe this time I'll goad Shikamaru into playing a match instead. _

- Ten minutes later -

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"I thought _you _wanted to play Go."

"It's no fun when I realise my lazy student won't put his own Go into practice against other opponents." The sulk in Sai's voice was palpable. "You don't even play seriously on YOUR NetGo account."

"That's because I use it for experimental plays and stuff. And you have to admit, it's hilarious watching people react to overly aggressive hands and weird pointless moves that purposely drive them crazy."

"See! Sora-hime has been an influence on your style, and she only plays shougi! Imagine what you can accomplish if you play against many different Go players! Especially when you have a match face to face. I always said that, especially online, you cannot recreate the feelings shared between opponents across the goban."

"Yes, yes, I know. That was your focal argument for the Go-salon-escapades."

…

"So, you'll play Shikamaru?"

Sigh. "Okay."

"YAYZ!"

"You've been spending _way_ too much time on the web and NetGo forums. You're not going to start talking in text speak, are you?"

"Text speak?"

"Never mind Sai."

* * *

It was a normal day at Kage Academy, which encompassed the elementary, middle school and high school sectors.

FWOOM!

Yep. Just a normal day.

Everyone in the room started coughing as thick plumes of coloured smoke obscured their vision. Shikamaru sighed; Naruto had finally unveiled his prank. Sai was attempting to fan away the smoke, but it wasn't very effective. Only the tip of his hat was clearly visible.

Iruka calmly evacuated the class, and windows were opened to air the rooms. When the smoke had cleared, Naruto's handiwork was apparent. Walls of a couple of classrooms and the corridor were decorated with remains of paint bombs. Mizuki-sensei's class next door were covered in fluorescent colours, and Mizuki-sensei himself looked like some sort of demented clown.

In all the confusion and hype, it was some time later that the teachers had gotten everything under control.

And it was then that Iruka turned around on Naruto and promptly exploded.

"NARUTO! DO YOU WANT A DETENTION? DON'T MAKE ME CALL YOUR PARENTS!"

The vein on Iruka-sensei's forehead was throbbing horribly. Naruto chuckled sheepishly with his 'Deny' face. "I-it's not what it looks like…"

Naruto took the preaching pretty well, but was later found madly cackling near the school gates, as friends milled around talking before heading off to their homes. The smoke had set off the fire alarms, and what with safety precautions at school, it was decided that the kids were free to go. It was almost dismissal anyway.

"Ha! The smoke was just a distraction! While everyone was being evacuated, I snuck around and searched Mizuki-sensei's desk. Not only did I deface his classroom, it turns out he really DOES have fake credentials. I left the evidence on the old man's desk, so it's safe to say we can say goodbye to that totally biased teacher."

Shikamaru had introduced all his friends and gave a commentary of sorts to Sai when he first found he'd be spending quality time with the spirit.

_Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto. An unpredictable loudmouth, generally agreed to be a pain in the ass. While frowned upon by some folk, no one could dismiss his bright personality, charisma and uncanny luck. _

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blue eyed (now deceptively innocent looking) boy. "Dobe."

_Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto's self-proclaimed rival/best friend. A prodigy, agreed in certain circles to have a stick up his ass. Often seen escaping from fangirls or snarking with the blonde prankster. _

At this stage, Ino nudged Sakura, and they started a whisper fest while glancing at Sasuke semi-covertly.

_Haruno Sakura. She had been a fairly shy girl, teased about a large forehead, before becoming acquainted with Ino when they were children. They were best friends, and rivals for Sasuke's heart.* She was intelligent, with pink hair that she swore was natural. _

Hinata stuttered slightly as she was drawn (forced) into the conversation, pointing her two fingers together bashfully.

_Hyuuga Hinata. She was a soft-spoken, meek girl, with a crush on Naruto (who had so far remained oblivious)._

Shikamaru sighed as Kiba and Naruto started another spat ('Freak!', 'Dimwit!').

_Inuzuka Kiba. His older sister was a vet, and his family bred dogs and owned kennels. He was rarely seen without Akamaru, who at first had been snuck into school before the board relented in letting the dog on school grounds, provided Kiba was held responsible for any damages or complaints. _

Shino gazed on enigmatically, pushing up his sunglasses in his characteristically cool manner.

_Aburame Shino. Brought the idea of stoicism to a whole new level. He was quiet, observant and a pillar of maturity among some of the more juvenile people in the group. Shikamaru had found Shino's silence refreshing, and hadn't been surprised when he found him to have an interest in entomology and photography. _

Neji rolled his eyes while he absentmindedly shuffled his Tarot cards. "By the way Shikamaru. I consulted the cards and you obtained the Magician. It seems that you may experience some change of direction, or a new journey."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Right."

_Hyuuga Neji. Hinata's older cousin, he was aloof and considered a prodigy like Sasuke. He reminded Shikamaru a bit of Sai when it came to the looks department. Despite the teenage angst and notion of destiny, he was fine to hang out with. Neji's preconceptions of fate were evident through the Tarot cards he carried around. _

Their idle chatter was disrupted when Lee stretched before energetically jumping to his feet. "YOSH! I must bid you all farewell. Father has plans for us to spend some father-son time together!" The youthful boy waved before bounding off towards a discreet limo across the road.

_Rock Lee. Rock had been his mother's maiden name, but he carried it in her honour, as she passed away when he was young. With Gai-sensei, the spandex-wearing PE teacher of Kage Academy as a role model, and a rather strange father, people often questioned Lee's sanity. Still, with his optimism and general outlook on life, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who held deep malice against him. People seeking revenge for being blinded by his gleaming smiles is another matter. _

"Lee is nothing like his father," Tenten mused, as they all stared at Lee's exuberant welcome hug with his dad.

_Tenten. No one knew her last name, which became something of a running gag. With her cheery disposition, sharp eyes and great aim, the bun-wearing girl was often found juggling knives or at archery practice. _

"You wouldn't see similarities because of Lee emulating Gai-sensei," Neji remarked coolly.

"Huh. Both Lee and his father have their own brands of genius. Both have their own ambitions. Both are…flamboyant I guess…Screw the thought, Fuzzy-brows' dad is just plain freaky," Naruto muttered. Heads nodded in unison.

"As some big horror movie director, he's expected to be eccentric,'" Kankuro pointed out.

"Still, you wouldn't really picture _Orochimaru_ to be the fatherly type, would you," said Temari. "What do you think, little brother? You and Lee are close friends."

_The Sand Siblings. (Naruto had come up with the Trio's name. It had stuck). Temari was the eldest, with a penchant for fans and speaking her mind. Kankuro, the middle child, was skilled in Kabuki and puppetry, and had a wicked sense of humour. Gaara, the youngest (and the same age as Shikamaru and the rest of the Rookie 9), had bright red hair and loner tendencies, but got along well with them, though mostly Naruto (and especially Lee, who was his best friend). _

Gaara glanced up from his notebook to his sister. "Shukaku is cautious. Whenever I take him for walks, or we are out, he purposefully avoids Lee's house. It can be quite problematic."

"Maybe Orochimaru doesn't like badgers."

Naruto scoffed. "Whatever. Anyway, I have to stay after school 'cause Iruka-sensei want's me to clean up the graffiti." His mouth widened into a foxy grin. "Mum's gonna love today's prank. I even used water soluble paints so it'd be easier to remove, that way I won't take too long. Later guys!"

"Kay. Bye bye!"

"See you tomorrow."

Shikamaru lazily waved a hand as the blonde boy and everyone else trudged off.

_And these are my friends Sai. Most have some degree of insanity, are troublesome, or just a pain (except Chouji). But they're all good people, I guess. _

_Sai pursed his lips. "For such a troublemaker, this Naruto has a keen mind in outwitting authority figures. Does he play Go?"_

"_He thinks it's an old man's game."_

Shikamaru hummed.

_Maybe one game at some Go salon wouldn't be too troublesome. If you really want me to play a game and it makes you happy…_

"But would it make you happy?" Sai questioned.

The twelve year old's eyes drifted to the clouds overhead. _I enjoy playing Go. But sometimes it seems like a completely different world, you know? All these pros and future pros… while playing such an ancient game, some seem so…childish with their intent. _

_How do I explain it…Sai, you've been playing for so long, you really love Go – you've even pinned your very existence on it. It certainly makes all those pros that only play for titles, or money, look __**really**__ shallow in comparison. _

Shikamaru shook his head. _What point was I trying to make again? It doesn't really make sense. Even to me. Whatever, let's just go. _

* * *

Akira was known to most as a reserved and polite boy of twelve, passionate about Go, and more at home with adults and considerably older Go players than children his own age.

His mother was often worried about this. Akiko knew he couldn't find much common ground with most of his (relatively immature) peers, but she encouraged him to spend more time with others. Besides acquaintances, classmates and work partners, he hadn't really forged any close friendships at school. Akira knew his mother was a bit apprehensive of his lack of friends, and he often felt a bit uneasy when dealing with other children, who were often quick to judge, especially with his more formal actions. He dealt with adults more frequently, and he didn't mind so much. Besides, who needs friends when you have Go?

Ashiwara had once told him that he needed a rival. Not just someone who was better than the rest, but a proper rival. Maybe even one his own age. Akira had replied that he saw people like his Father and Ogata as opponents to work towards; that there weren't many children his age that he could just strike up a rivalry with. Anyway, he didn't see the point – he knew he had a long way to go, but he had his eyes set. Some time afterwards (last year in December) Akira had defeated Hideki Isobe, the Meijin title holder for children, which only strengthened his idea. He would look forward, to the world of pros, and he'd train diligently.

Currently he was in his father's Go Salon, seated in front of one of the gobans. The polished Kaya wood shone as he smoothed his fingers over it. Separated from the other players, he could devote himself fully to his own study.

He now could play against his father with only a two-stone handicap. The rare praise he had received made him smile inwardly. He was only twelve, and his Go still needed improvement, but at this moment he felt like he had taken a few more steps in reaching the Hand of God.

It was cool in the shadows as the soft _pachi_ of the stones accompanied his thoughts. Absorbed in them, he did not pay much attention to the next person that walked through the door.

"Hello, welcome," Ichikawa Harumi greeted the boy who entered the salon. "Write your name down here." She pushed a pen and a signature book towards him. "Is this your first time to this salon?"

"Yeah," the boy said as he picked up the pen and scrawled his name in an empty slot.

"What's your Go level?"

He frowned slightly. "I'm not really sure. I've been playing for a while…"

Ichikawa smiled. "Just leave it blank then. The children rate is 500 yen." The boy paid, and his eyes roamed around the salon. Most of the customers were already in the midst of their games.

It was then that Akira observed the newcomer out of the corner of his eye. Sometimes insei came to practice in the salon, but generally they preferred other places. And the boy didn't look much like a Go player. With brown hair in a ponytail Akira could only compare to a pineapple, and the casual clothes, he looked like just like a normal kid his age. With the exception of the earrings.

"Hn, there aren't many kids who play here either?"

Akira turned fully, noticing the boy staring in faint surprise at him. "Looking for an opponent?" Akira said on the spur of the moment as he stood and walked over to the counter, smiling politely.

Ichikawa's jaw dropped slightly in bafflement. "Akira-kun…"

"I have time." This was true. He was in a good mood, and with Ashiwara and his mother's words in mind, he figured it wouldn't hurt to play a game. He focused on his would-be-opponent. "Do you want to go to the back?"

"Sure," the boy with the spiky ponytail answered, nodding his head nonchalantly.

The cashier of the go-salon couldn't help but shake her head. Really, the new boy didn't know who was going up against…

Akira led the newcomer to one of the empty gobans. "My name is Toya Akira."

The other boy smiled slightly. "I'm Nara Shikamaru. I'm in sixth grade."

"Oh, so am I," Akira said pleasantly. While Shikamaru didn't exactly fit the mould of the typical Go player, he looked like a laidback guy. With the calm, bored feeling he gave off, like he didn't care too much what was going on, it was surprisingly easy for Akira to relax. At least he wasn't hyperactive – Akira had been mortified when an opponent couldn't even sit still and acted like he hadn't got the dosage of his new medication right.

They sat down in a rather gloomy place, away from most of the other players and next to the aquarium. Akira couldn't help but note the other's lazy posture. "So, how good are you?"

"I'm not sure in my ranking. Pretty strong, I guess," was the vague reply that he received.

"Really? Why don't you put down four or five stones then?" Akira continued, wondering how his opponent would take it. Most twelve year olds wouldn't take too kindly to the handicap, even if Akira was able to wipe the floor with people much older than him _and_ the handicap in place.

Nara Shikamaru did not look insulted, or nervous, or arrogant. He just raised an eyebrow, remarking, "Been playing a long time?"

Nara hummed at Akira's nod. "Well, don't worry about the handicaps. I'd just like to enjoy a game against someone my own age – the kids at my school aren't really into this kind of thing," he explained.

Akira blinked. "Oh, alright." Shikamaru must have noticed his taken aback look, because his face became slightly amused.

"I get my ass kicked on the goban regularly. Another devastating loss won't make much of a difference. Nigiri?"

The game started with Nara playing black. Akira noted with some satisfaction that the other boy held the go stone correctly, between the index and middle finger. At least he wasn't some fresh-faced beginner.

A little into it, Akira surprisingly found himself enjoying the game. Nara placed his stones well – no wonder he said he was good. But while solid and well-placed, they seemed fairly mediocre. His playing style also had some old elements, moves that were outdated, but perhaps he studied old kifu records. Even so, without Akira going all out, he'd be able to win this without too much effort. He liked the atmosphere of the game.

It was later that Akira started to notice.

_My moves…aren't having much of an effect. He's deflecting my attacks quite well – it's subtle, but it's possible he's manipulating some of my hands. _

He thought a while before placed down a white stone, effectively isolating one of the black clusters. There wouldn't be much the nonchalant boy could do for it now.

The Go stone his opponent had been twirling in his fingers slowed, and he placed it down with a soft _pachi!_ Akira stared. Nara had completely bypassed his move and saved his cluster – in fact, Akira hadn't even thought of such a move. It was like this Nara saw pathways that Akira didn't even realise were there, much less take into consideration.

For a while, the _pachi_ of the black and white stones, and their steady breathing, were the only sounds as the two continued their game, which steadily grew.

Akira paused in shock when Nara placed down a black stone in a meaningless place.

_That's not a defensive move. Nor an offensive move. It's a move to test where I'll move next._ Eyes widening, he looked up at his opponent. The sixth grader was staring at him blankly, but an eyebrow was – just slightly – raised in question. Akira glanced back down. _He's gauging out my ability…_

The Go prodigy did not know what to think. It didn't feel like Nara was some towering Go player looking down at him from a great height…it was as though the other boy was a lot sharper, and saw pathways in the game that he had missed. Akira knew that he had been lulled into some sort of false security when he sat down to play against this Nara Shikamaru. He had underestimated the other sixth grader, and the other knew it too. No doubt he had been prodding at Akira's own skill, and now that he had some idea to his playing style, he had shown more of his hand.

_Amazing. He must be exceptional in weighing options and going for the path that will grant him the biggest advantage. And his reading ability in the game…_

A drop of sweat trailed slightly down the back of his neck. Akira smiled. He had hoped that this match would be good. Instead, it was shaping up to be a real eye opener.

Akira could do nothing but step up his game.

* * *

Sai himself was watching the board critically. As much as he would have loved to play this Toya Akira across the goban, he was glad that he had badgered Shikamaru to play against someone. While Sai enjoyed NetGo and the other salon visits, he had really been worried that Shikamaru would neglect his own skills in favour of Sai's own. If there was one thing Sai did not like to see, it was wasted potential. Torajiro had already given Sai much leeway in Go, and sometimes he felt guilty in taking over Torajiro's life, regardless of the happiness and fortune Torajiro said he felt with Sai as a companion.

Well, that and Sai liked to see Shikamaru play against children his own age. The boy was sometimes too lazy for his own good – Sai had once heard Nara Yoshino remark something about Shikamaru often having markings from tatami mats on his face because he slept too much.

The current game was a good one, but both Shikamaru and Akira weren't playing to their full strength. Sai felt like hitting them both with his fan and telling them to stop dancing around and play seriously, but it couldn't be helped. Shikamaru usually observed his opponents' ability, making plans and playing accordingly to what he had gleaned from their style. This Toya Akira, on the other hand, seemed to have been playing Go since he could hold the stones – there was that easy familiarity from countless games.

Sai's smile was threatening to burst his face. With such talented players, the quality of some of Shikamaru's generation more than made up for the numbers that played Go.

Ichikawa Harumi looked up as that boy walked out. By the looks of things he had finished the game with Akira-kun. "All done?"

He nodded. "I have to go now, or I'll be in trouble with my folks."

"Okay. But here," she handed a flier to him. "This is happening next week. If you want, you could check it out."

He frowned slightly, reading the flier aloud. "Children's Go Tournament?"

"Strong kids from around the country will be there."

"Well, ok. Thanks a lot for today," the boy said idly.

"Please come again," Harumi waved, before chuckling a little to herself. "He was a strange kid."

"Heh. To compete with Akira-sensei, the boy's probably fifty years too early," a customer pointed out. "I struggle even with a handicap in place, and I've been playing for more than twenty years!"

"And Akira-kun defeated the children Meijin title holder last month," Harumi continued, feeling proud for the boy she had gotten to know since he had first come to the Go salon, clutching his father's hand and staring widely at the gobans. He'd been so cute as a toddler…

"WHAT! He lost?"

There was a commotion and a cacophony of scraping chairs as customers crowded around the Go prodigy in the other room. Indeed, Akira had lost by only two moku (with the handicap in consideration). They were gobsmacked.

Akira himself was silent, staring at the Go board. His heart was beating fast. His ears registered the conversations taking place around him as a dull murmur.

What would it have been like if both players had been going all out?

His right hand clenched slightly. He feverishly wished that he would be able to have that chance.

* * *

* - Shikamaru believed there was an 89% chance that Sasuke was gay. **  
** - 93% if it was with Naruto.  
Just ask the yaoi fangirls. They know what I'm talking about.

**

* * *

**

Author's Note:

Phew! And that's Chapter 6! I got in more of Shikamaru's friends (which made the chapter seem filler, now that I think about it) and his match against Akira, whom we all know and love. Hope I didn't epicly fail on that. Maybe I'll revisit previous chapters or revise this fic a bit later into the story.  
I'll have some other back stories going on besides the main plot of Go, but that's my corrupted brain taking over. I'm a slave to my own imagination…And I've realised that one chapter a month will probably kill me. That, or I'll fail maths in the process.

Kudos for Sapphire and Gold who let me pay homage to her plot bunny. Yes, Naruto fans, Orochimaru is Lee's father! (Cue screams). Bet you didn't see that one coming.

Review. Rant. Flame. Favourite. Whatever. Feedback is welcome, thank you for your time.

~ SwordsMagician


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: In an alternate universe, a different person walked the path of Shindo Hikaru. How will Nara Shikamaru deal with a go-playing spirit, tournaments, opponents and Toya Akira? This lazy genius didn't realise how playing Go could be so troublesome…

Disclaimer: You know the drill, me no own Hikaru no Go! Shikamaru and Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto! I just console myself with my minor OCs and plots.

* * *

**Shikamaru no Go**  
By swordsmagician

Chapter 7

"So…does this Sai teach you Go as well? I thought Asuma-sensei did that."

"Well, I learn from any games I play and see. Sai's games are really big on the Net, and sometimes I play a match or two. He's a bit like Dad; regardless whether it's a goban or shougi board, I get destroyed every time."

Chouji and Shikamaru were sprawled on the hill near the school oval, behind the main building. Their space was free of trees, giving a clear view of the clouds that stretched across the sky as far as the eye could see.

They ignored the terrified screams from the fields.* Sai had become bored with small talk, and gone investigating. Shikamaru had already gone over what he was to tell Chouji with Sai before, but he didn't want Sai coming back scarred for life.

Chouji munched on a chip while offering some to Shikamaru. "You were pretty good before, but you've gotten better. Even Asuma-sensei said so. How did you meet this Sai anyway?"

Shikamaru outwardly shrugged, lying back on the grass. "The circumstances are too troublesome. Basically we met, and I helped him set up a NetGo account. He wasn't very good with computers, and that's basically the only way he can play."

"Really?"

Shikamaru nodded. "His condition means he can't just go around playing games like I can."

Chouji looked quizzical. It sounded like this Sai person was sick or something. Maybe he was bedridden. Shikamaru spoke of Sai almost dismissively, but it was obvious to Chouji that Shikamaru held a deep respect for him. And Shikamaru was smart, he would have made sure when he first met a stranger to be cautious.

"Hey Chouji…" Shikamaru turned to his friend. "Do you mind keeping the whole thing on Sai on the downlow? It's only that people have been trying to track him down and discover his identity, but he's a private guy. If it gets out that I know him, who knows what kind of circus will come out."

The larger boy nodded. "No problem. I got you covered."

Shikamaru smiled. "Thanks." He watched the clouds for a while longer before closing his eyes.

Shikamaru had always had a deep confidence in Chouji. While he felt justified in not broaching the subject about Sai to people for obvious reasons, he still felt that twinge of guilt in his chest at the thought of holding out on his friend. Sure, they had their own secrets they wouldn't tell the other like any other person, but keeping Sai a complete secret was troublesome, not to mention annoying. It wasn't like he was ashamed of anything, just realistic.

Keeping Sai a secret had been nerve wracking at times. Shikamaru was worried that one day Asuma-sensei would follow up the conversation at the shougi salon, or notice how Shikamaru's Go may have more than just an influence from Sai's Go. That was one thing Shikamaru couldn't exactly hide.

His friends didn't seem to observe much of a difference. He spaced out or slept in class, so talking to Sai then was fine. No, his chief concern was that his parents would notice something was up. Asuma didn't live in the same house as Shikamaru, or was privy to his habits, though Asuma knew Go, and by proxy the internet sensation Sai. Luckily, his parents appeared to have written off any changes to puberty.

Telling someone, like Chouji, had lifted the burden off his shoulders considerably. His mind felt lighter already.

There was no denying Sai was a genius at Go. Beginners and seasoned veteran players knew when they were crushed by Sai. People were already questioning Sai's identity. Shikamaru didn't think that anyone would come to the conclusion that he was being haunted and that Sai was a spirit, as farfetched as the truth was, but if one person got even close to the truth, it could spell serious trouble.

Unorthodox Ninja Rule: If at first you don't succeed, cheat. Repeat until caught. Then lie.

If he didn't succeed at keeping this under wraps, there would be hell to pay in damage control. He didn't _need_ to cheat or lie. Just bend the truth a little, be vague, or tell the facts in an ambiguous manner that wasn't really a lie at all.

First thing: laying down some groundwork. If anyone found out his connection with Sai, all they would know is that he was a mentor-figure that Shikamaru knew, and they shouldn't make any guesses as to what the _real_ story entailed.

Shikamaru's brain, which was used to thinking about Go and shougi plans, had been toying with ideas on protecting the link between him and Sai, without hiding Sai's existence.

Playing strategy games did wonders for the brain.

Sai eventually ambled back, a little paler than usual, if it was possible. 'Shikamaru, you're classmates are…unique.'

The Nara resisted the urge to chuckle aloud. _They are INSANE._

* * *

"This is it."

Shikamaru stared up from the crumpled flier clutched in his hand to a building. The Children's Go Tournament was a free event held at Kiin Hall, promoting Go to the younger generation he guessed. Because it was a Sunday, and Asuma-sensei was with Kurenai-sensei at some music festival, Sai and Shikamaru had caught the train themselves.

They soon found themselves watching rows and rows of children in the midst of Go games. Waiting parents were hovering from the sidelines, some who looked more worried and competitive than their children.

"Woah. This atmosphere. The nervousness. There are kids younger than me, and they're all so serious." _Sai…this is incredible. And kind of scary._ Shikamaru's eyes roved around continuously as Sai beamed.

"Yes. These children have the same passion for Go that I had a thousand years ago." Sai's eyes crinkled merrily. "And these children are telling me that things will be the same a thousand years from now."

"…Yeah." Go had stood against the test of time, so no surprises that it would continue to do so, especially with each generation renewing its practice.

_It's the first time I've come across a Go event like this_, Shikamaru mused. _The only other one I can compare it to is this random Go convention Asuma-sensei took me to before I met you. I'd just covered some tsumego and we had a look at this amateur match. I managed to weasel my way out of competing in some children's tournament as well. _

"You should have given it a go," Sai reproached him. "Lazy child, you probably thought it was too much work."

"Yep."

Sai wondered exasperatedly if this was what it was like having kids/adolescents in your care. Troublesome indeed!

They spent most of the time wandering around together, looking out for interesting moves played, and curious games. Shikamaru was glad that he had bothered to come – the go-obsessed spirit had admittedly grown on him. As an only child, it crossed his mind that Sai was probably the closest thing he'd get to an older brother. It was… nice, with the both of them spending time discussing games.

"Oh," Sai noticed a while later, 'in the upper left corner of that board. That's an interesting shape.' Shikamaru's eyes shifted to the board Sai had pointed to.

_You're right. If black isn't careful he'll die. _He checked the board. _I'd go for 1,2._

The other player placed his stone just below it. _Oh, too bad…if he placed one stone above, he could have won. Probably didn't even realise it – instead, he went to aid his other cluster. Good basic strategy though. I mean, this is a children's tournament; I can't exactly expect moves that someone of your level would make. How old's the kid anyway? Ten? Not bad._

"He will get better with practice. Still, that was perceptive of you – that child was faced with a difficult predicament, and you noticed how he could have won," Sai stared at his protégé. "And so quickly! It would take even professionals a while to realise that."

_And you saw it quicker than I did, didn't you? My progress can be credited to the surprising influence of a Go playing supernatural presence_, Shikamaru nodded to himself while covertly glancing at the clock. _We still have plenty of time before my parents expect me home. Do you want to see how that game over there progressed?_

"Yes!" Sai said eagerly. 'I want to see that young girl's response when she lost her key position in the lower right corner.'

The two continued their way around the place, browsing the many stalls of Go-related items and books at the venue. After eyeing some of the items (he'd bought a book that delved into Honinbo Shusaku's life and games in detail, partly from interest and partly because of Sai),Shikamaru was soon sitting at one of the empty gobans in the corner, recreating and discussing some of the games with Sai.

_The boy put his stone here, while I would have gone for the point there, so I could threaten this cluster…_

Sai gazed at his student fondly. Shikamaru had an amazing memory, and could recall many games he had played and seen (including ones Sai had played as Honinbo Shusaku). It was one of the things which greatly helped Shikamaru's progress. 'I know potential when I see it,' Sai boasted slightly, when he mentioned the whole memory thing to the sixth grader.

The boy had brushed it off, mumbling something about memory being a bother at times. _Seriously Sai, you give me too much credit. You can acknowledge whatever skills I have when I'm able to put up a good game against you without a handicap. I really need to work on outsmarting you…_

Shikamaru was in the middle of replicating the game Sai had pointed out to him earlier when the spirit tapped his fan on his shoulder with a soft _Pon!_

"Shikamaru, someone is watching."

The boy didn't pause, but peered out of the corner of his eye at the man with neat blonde hair, wearing a white suit and glasses. He could have been some sort of official, or perhaps one of the Go pros. He certainly didn't have the air of a parent.

The blonde was just close enough to see the board. No one else was paying any particular attention, so he should have been busy watching the official matches. Shikamaru steadfastly ignored the man's not-so-secret peeks as the game played out underneath his fingers.

_Don't worry Sai; he's probably a spectator or official of some sort. I think I saw him talking with some of the judges…and I don't believe he can kick us out unless we do something like intrude or interrupt the other games._

Still, Shikamaru felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle with foreboding. Something was up, but he silently continued his re-enactment. Eventually, he positioned the stone in the tesuji** that would have won the game, but had been missed by the original player. _Now, in such a situation, would Black be completely irredeemable? Hmm…_

"Shikamaru, we have to leave, NOW."

Sai's face was calm; his voice serious with an underlying sense of urgency. If that wasn't warning enough, Shikamaru's ninja senses were in overdrive. He edged his head up a little, and the sight of one person made his blood turn cold.

_What the -! Your stalker's __here__!_

Standing at some distance away was a handsome young man, with pale hair a shade lighter than Ha-kun's, and purple eyes that were intently surveying the room. His white button up shirt and black slacks blended in casually among the suit wearing officials milling about the place. Shikamaru had _no_ idea when the guy had entered the building.

Just great. While he had never gotten a name from Sai's opponent, the man would eerily turn up within the general vicinity, often at the most inopportune moments.

The circumstances were often enough that Shikamaru couldn't pass it off as a mere coincidence. Luckily, Shikamaru wasn't dressed as his alternate self that went around salons playing as Sai, so that worked in his favour. And he was half in shadow, not exactly easy to spot. So far Stalker-san was pacing around, eyeballing the competitors.

(Shikamaru seriously hoped the guy wasn't looking for a bespectacled boy with a penchant for Shusaku's Go. He _really_ didn't need this.)

Sai and Shikamaru unanimously decided that they'd spent enough time at the Tournament, though Sai was pouting.

"What bad timing! Who knew that man could be so persistent? He was a confident opponent, but he realised his intimidation tactics were having no effect. I had to cut him off completely before he conceded defeat, and he still played like he was untouchable…"

_He was pretty scary, but you're scarier when you get all serious_. After a few minutes of scrutinising exit routes and talking mind-to-mind, Shikamaru stood up and walked out nonchalantly. Stealth, or fading into the background had been something he had been lucky to be blessed with. Any attention in the hall was focused on a particularly close game, so who was he not to use the opportunity? _Gyoku no hayanige wa hatte no toku ari_ ***.

No one detected the lone boy slowly making his way around the side of the hall. While making their subtle getaway, Sai continued sulking. They turned a corner in the hallway, passing by a vaguely familiar individual. The eyes of boy and spirit widened slightly as the man walked past them.

"Is that-?"

_Yeah, that looks like Toya Meijin. But this isn't a good time for an autograph or challenge._ The Meijjn was wearing his traditional get up (much like Shikamaru's paternal grandfather, who oversaw a shrine in Nara and often sported the full kimono, hakama and haori). _Huh. You know, up close the Meijin reminds me a little of Uchiha Fugaku****, but maybe less pretentious. _

"I may not know the Meijin personally, but what I have seen so far denotes a stern man, rather than an arrogant one. Even your Asuma-sensei speaks of him with respect, and Toya Meijin could not have earned such goodwill among his peers and fans if his character was deplorable," Sai said sagely.

The two eventually made it to the exit, and walked through the doors away from the stalker-inhabited building into questionable freedom. They had no idea a certain Go prodigy was making his way towards them.

When Ogata Seiji turned back from his view of one of the last games of the tournament that had been quite interesting, all he saw was an abandoned goban with a remarkable situation laid out on the surface…

* * *

The Go salon was pretty busy. Ichikawa Harumi had just finished going through the log book, her eyes lingering on the neat handwriting of _Nara Shikamaru_. The accounts of the salon were all complete. The regulars talked of inane things while their games were in motion. While Harumi had never been a very talented Go player, she enjoyed it nonetheless, as well as her job as a receptionist at the salon. With the sound of the door opening, she looked up at the man in the brown trench coat, clasping his briefcase. "Good afternoon."

"Ah, Ichikawa-san. Is Akira-sensei here?" Hirose was a customer who stopped by often, and had taken a few tutoring lessons from Akira. She frowned faintly.

"Well, he is, but he keeps replaying that one game in the corner." Both turned towards Akira, Harumi worried, Hirose surprised. For the past week, the distant young boy had been found seated at the same goban frequently.

"That game? You mean the one that he lost to a kid his own age?" Hirose rubbed his chin thoughtfully as Harumi nodded. She had been watching out of the corner of her eye for the last few days, and had never seen Akira quite like this.

Akira continuously replayed moves, unaware of the scrutiny of the two adults. _This hand…And this hand too…some of these moves remind me a bit of shidougo. If this is his ability…_His mind wandered to his enigmatic opponent. _If he was testing my ability, seeing how I would react to his hands…I can't understand it. Who is he? _Akira's eyes were shadowed. _Nara Shikamaru…_

And then Harumi was approaching him, her cheerful face inquiring. "Akira-kun? Hirose-san would like to play shidougo with you."

"Well, not if he's busy," Hirose added hastily.

Akira sighed internally. "I'm sorry, but…," Akira looked at them apologetically before staring back down at the board, eyebrows furrowed. There was a thoughtful silence.

"Are you waiting for that child?" Harumi hesitantly spoke up. "I mean, you only know his name so I guess there's nothing else you can do."

"…" Akira said nothing as his lips pursed. He had been waiting at the salon, hoping that the boy would pass by, but no such luck. Out of all the salons in Tokyo, couldn't Nara swing by this particular one once more? It would have been easier if the boy had worn an identifiable school uniform, then at least he would have had a lead…

While Akira was preoccupied with thoughts of the elusive Nara, Harumi was wondering how she had never seen him brooding like this before. Even when he lost to his father, all that would happen was he would pay close attention in the discussion afterwards, and work to improve his Go. But this time, given that his opponent had been the same age as he was, rather than Toya Meijin. Certainly, it must have been shocking.

It was also…sad, seeing Akira come by after school, silently playing games. It would have been nice for Akira to play against someone who wasn't under a handicap, or had an age gap spanning years. The number of children playing Go had been decreasing, though the tournaments for children and amateurs were still going strong.

Tournaments for children and amateurs…

"Oh I know!" she said suddenly, tapping her fist on her palm in remembrance. "I gave that kid a flyer to the Children Go Tournament!"

Akira blinked, turning to her. "The one held at Kiin Hall today?"

"Yes," she nodded cheerfully to Akira's response. "He didn't seem too interested, but he might have gone."

There was a pause as Akira's mind stopped for a second, before gears started turning again.

"Akira-kun?" Akira had stood up abruptly, his chair clattering against the floor. He was already halfway across the room when he called back, "Ishikawa-san, please! If he comes here when I'm gone, tell him to wait for me! Don't let him leave!" And then the door closed sharply.

Harumi and Hirose could only stare. By now Akira was already heading for the train, mentally calculating how quickly he could make it to the hall.

"He's changed, hasn't he? Akira-kun…," Harumi murmured with surprise at the spontaneous decision to leave, while thinking back to how composed he had been before that fateful Go game.

"Well, yeah," Hirose contemplated aloud. "Till now, he's never really had a rival before."

While Akira was running down staircases and catching public transport, Toya Koyo was curiously examining a goban in the corner of the Tournament hall.

"Take a look at this," Ogata murmured to him. "I saw one of the kids around here playing out one of the games in the tournament. He managed to discern the correct position for Black to win in this difficult tsumego."

"I see," Koyo mused as he stared down at the board. "Only with a glance, a pro's life or death decision." _How intriguing._ "It means there is another child that can do this besides my son Akira…"

His son had been more reserved than usual the last few days. His Go had been…different. When he asked, Harumi had told him about an opponent at the salon, who had defeated Akira by a few moku. Koyo had not pried into Akira's business, but secretly, he was glad that there might be someone who could prove a rival for his son. There was still a new wave of Go players, and who knew what they would bring when they rejuvenated the Go world.

"I don't believe he was a participant in the tournament though," Ogata continued, folding his arms. "I wasn't able to ask for a name – he was already gone when I came back. Officials say he left the building by then." Ogata sounded rather dejected at the thought of the boy leaving before they could get to him. The Meijin couldn't help but think his student would be only too happy to interrogate this mysterious player if he ever got a hold of him.

"It's alright." Koyo picked up the black stone and stared at its dull sheen, before replacing it at the point some unknown boy had set it previously. "If he truly is such a good player, then someday he will appear before us pros."

The stone made a satisfying _pa-chi_!

* * *

Relief coursed through him as he focused on the person he had hoped to meet. "Nara – Nara Shikamaru!"

Said boy turned; surprised at the arrival of someone he thought he wouldn't come across after checking out the tournament. "Toya…"

Akira was breathing hard, face flushed after sprinting up the subway steps, but he composed himself.

"Hey Toya, what's going on?" Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered towards him.

Aside from tracking the other boy down, Akira hadn't put too much thought into anything besides asking for another game. And he couldn't very well say he had run most of the way in hopes of a chanced meeting. "Oh, um…"

He was saved by Shikamaru's words. "You weren't in the tournament?"

"No. You?"

Shikamaru shrugged, smiling sardonically. "Nah, just checking it out. I'm not that competitive to enter a tournament in that sense. Still," he continued, "I haven't seen anything like it before really. There were kids younger than me, yet they were all really serious. It was great to watch. I was impressed."

"Impressed? You have never been serious?" Akira asked cautiously.

Shikamaru scratched his neck as his gaze drifted to the sky, eyes thoughtful. The grey clouds clearly indicated he should be wary of coming rain. His attention shifted back to Toya. What did he want anyway? "Well…not like that. I suppose I'm not driven enough."

"I see." Akira had managed to cool down after his sprint by now. "Are you going to become a pro then?"

Shikamaru mulled over his words. "I've been asked that question a few times," he said slowly, carefully, "but at this point, I can't really see myself becoming a professional Go player."

Akira found this strange. He was under the impression that Nara Shikamaru was someone like him, who had trained in Go from an early age and was planning to become pro. He remembered the conversation at their first meeting, when the other boy had mentioned something like losing everyday. Akira could understand that – he still had much to improve before he could beat his own father.

"What about you? Planning on becoming a pro?"

"Yes, I am," Akira answered at once.

Shikamaru nodded decisively. "Figures really." Akira wasn't sure whether to take the comment as an insult or compliment. He brushed it aside. "Do you know much about the pro world?" he asked.

"Only a little," Shikamaru admitted. "You can take part in tournaments, tutor in Go, and then something about rankings…" He paused, before chuckling. "Those pros are actually pretty busy. Sounds like too much work for me."

Shikamaru realised how that may have sounded when the slightly befuddled look Akira was sporting became affronted. Oops. Looks like his offhand remark had been taken the wrong way.

"Do you realise how hard it is to become a pro? Perseverance, hard work, pain, disappointment…" Akira's voice rose slightly. "There are those who have risen above such despair yet still failed to reach the height that is needed." _Why did I lose to a guy like this?_ Akira's hand clenched. "To prepare, I have worked hard. Since I was small I have played hours of Go everyday, no matter how painful it was, I played Go."

A small part of Shikamaru's brain couldn't help but think _Damn, this kid has no life_, before he quashed it. "Hey I didn't mean it like that," he said hastily before Toya could continue ranting. "I know being a pro won't be easy. That's why I'm not exactly lining myself up to play Go professionally. I'm a lazy slob!" The last part of his reasoning sounded a bit desperate, but it was the honest truth. He had twenty different people backing him up on this!

Toya evidently wasn't prepared for an answer like that, and he seemed to calm down. But Akira was still thinking quickly. _L-lazy slob? Forget that, damn it… I lost because I underestimated him. I beat myself because I had assumed that he was an average player… and then panicked when his skills hinted otherwise._

"Then let's play another game, right now." _I will become a Pro. I will someday. I cannot lose here. _'Don't run away, Nara Shikamaru, let's play right now!'

There was one of those short pauses as Shikamaru cocked his head to one side like some inquisitive bird and assessed the boy in front of him.

_Now that he mentions it, running away sounds tempting…_

"Shikamaru…do it. He came here especially to play you." Sai's eyes were glinting from above the fan obscuring his face.

A heavy raindrop plinked Shikamaru on the nose, and he scolded himself for not bringing an umbrella as the raindrops started coming down harder. "Uh…well then, ok?"

Toya nodded curtly, ignoring the rain that was slowly soaking the both of them, before seizing Shikamaru's arm. The unsuspecting Kage student found himself being forcefully pulled towards the subway.

Fantastic. He had escaped from one stalker only to come across someone who was equally determined.

Akira was resolute. _If I have made it my goal to achieve god's hand, then I can't lose here. Nara Shikamaru is definitely not just some amateur. I must not underestimate him. _

Shikamaru's thoughts differed greatly from Akira's.

_The train ride is going to be pre-tty awkward. _

* * *

Damn, he was right. Shikamaru sometimes hated it when he was right. Intelligence wasn't always what it was cracked up to be.

Toya was most likely lost in his own thoughts, staring out the train window with the same stubborn look Naruto got on his face when something went wrong or he was planning some well deserved vengeance. Of all the people he could have played against in that Go salon, it just had to be this Toya Akira, who had an unexpectedly strong grip for a Go geek.

Still, it had been one of the better Go games in Shikamaru's experience against new adversaries. He wasn't surprised Toya was planning on playing professionally. Toya's moves shone with a brilliance you didn't normally come across in kids their age. Shikamaru had managed to outwit him, but Toya hadn't look like he was taking the game too seriously.

"When that child matures…Will he become a dragon, or a tiger?"

_What's with the analogy Sai? _

"Toya Akira has his fangs exposed right now. He is a fitting opponent with a lot of talent."

_Well, I'd be only too happy to let you play, but a completely different Go might raise questions. _

"Do not worry; it is not me he challenged. I am sure there will be other chances for me to test his skill."

_Alright._ Then Shikamaru's annoying mind latched on a couple of observations that refused to keep quiet in his head. Things like:

_Oh god, the last names. Please tell me I didn't inadvertently win against the son of __**Toya Meijin.**_

'Does Toya Meijin even have a son?'

_I don't know, but if so, what a troublesome coincidence this all is. _

* * *

* For someone who wore sunglasses indoors and a poker face 24/7, Shino had a bit of a vindictive streak. His pet insects that somehow crawl under his jacket were supposed to be responsible for an older student's mental breakdown. ^

^ Said student had been heard saying scornful comments about Hinata. Said student had a crippling bug phobia. In the end, there still wasn't enough evidence to trace it back to the Aburame. #

# Shikamaru and Kankuro had a sneaking suspicion that Shino could possibly take over the world with his insect spy force.

** A tesuji is a clever play, the best play in a local position, or a skillful move.

*** "Early escape by the King is worth eight moves". (Shougi proverb).

**** Uchiha Fugaku – the father of both Itachi and Sasuke. Head of the local Police Force. Haughty and with high expectations for his sons, he is widely regarded to be a real prick (unless drunk).

* * *

Author's Note:

Exams are here, and yet I read/typed/scribbled away on this. Hope you will all enjoy the fruits of my labour - my family probably won't, as it takes away time when I should be doing more 'productive work'…

This chapter provided a bit of trouble, you know, keeping things in character, making sure readers don't fall asleep halfway through, that sort of thing. Anything you would like to say or critique? I'm happy to receive any reviews or messages!

By the way, are there any Naruto fans that can guess the identity of the stalker? It's not exactly subtle…

~ SwordsMagician


	8. Chapter 8

Summary: In an alternate universe, a different person walked the path of Shindo Hikaru. How will Nara Shikamaru deal with a go-playing spirit, tournaments, opponents and Toya Akira? This lazy genius didn't realise how playing Go could be so troublesome…

Disclaimer: I DON'T own Hikaru no Go, or Naruto. I'm just borrowing characters, mixing them up with optimistically original ideas, adding a dash (or more) of OOCness, and hoping that it'll turn out ok.

Note: Swearing is imminent with the character in this chapter. Nothing too explicit I should think, but this fic has a T rating in any case.

* * *

**Shikamaru no Go  
**By swordsmagician

Chapter 8

The room was rather dim, aside from the yellow light of the desk lamp illuminating neatly stacked papers and piles of manila folders. It also shed light on the face of a person staring at him with vivid purple eyes.

After working tirelessly on a new case of a thieving ring, Itachi had been looking forward to curling up with a good book, maybe the latest Matthew Reilly novel, or spending some quality brother bonding time with Sasuke. Instead, his room and sanctuary had been invaded by the young man in the neat slacks and rock band t-shirt. The one with ash blonde hair swept back neatly and arms folded over his chest. Whose position was a universal indication that he refused to budge from his place in front of Itachi's desk, unless he received some kind of answer.

Itachi was the first born son to the esteemed family name of the Uchiha. His father was head of the police force in the area. His genius had meant he had excelled in academics, going through his education at an accelerated pace in fact, skipping grades and graduating from university earlier than his age group. He held a respect from his colleagues through his own reputation, not because of his father's connections. The fangirls were annoying, but he could deal with them.

Aside from living up to his father's high expectations and being all around 'perfect', Itachi was quite content with his life. However, Hidan wanted something, and he probably wasn't going to leave until he had roped Itachi into whatever scheme their friends had come up with.

Yes, his uni life had been… eventful. But this time, the situation was all Hidan.

Itachi sighed slightly, though his facial features remained indifferent. "Let me sort this out. You have some sort of obsession with a grade schooler? Is there something you're not telling me?"

Hidan snorted. "Not like that, you sicko. Picture this scenario. Some fucking punk just turns up at a Go salon and trounces me. I track the guy down and demand a rematch, same shit happens. Once I'm set on something I ain't letting go so easily. The little bastard didn't even flinch at my psychological warfare. He just looked at me over his glasses, goddamned smirked and said 'Nigiri', the little worm."

"You're imploring me to track down a kid. So you can play _Go_."

"It's right up your lane, Itachi. You're the prodigious detective son. Surely you can track him down easier than some serial killer?"

"That's beside the point, Hidan. I am a professional. I don't have time to cater to the whims of my eccentric friends."

"Aw, come on." Hidan placed a map down in front of Itachi, scattering a few of Itachi's papers onto the floor. He stabbed a finger at a small red cross. "The Go salon in red was where I first met him. Green is for ones he was reputedly sighted at. The yellow outline is the general area he inhabits. If you want, I'll try to get a sketch or something of him for next time – maybe Deidara'll do it. So far, the kid seems to frequent the less popular salons, or the out of way ones. He alternates, but I need to find out which ones he'll visit next. It looks like he's been branching out into some of the bigger ones, though he hasn't gone to the well known salons. That's where you come in."

Hidan's face was ominous. "I need to be able to predict his moves and make my own game plan. If I can find a concrete pattern in his visits, I'm good to go. Surely your intellect is curious about a boy that's around your precious younger brother's age, running around with a Go to rival Honinbo Shusaku?"

"No one can play with a Go on par with a Go Saint, especially at that age," Itachi murmured mechanically, but he had seen the kifu, and it _had_ made him curious. What a mind the opponent must have. Itachi himself had played Go, before joining the force at his father's insistence. In a small act of rebellion, he had focused his intellect as an analyst, into detective work and criminal profiling rather than becoming an actual policeman like his father, and he hadn't regretted his decision since. He still liked to test his mind for strategy with a few games from time to time, keep his mind sharp.

It was tempting to find this boy, if only for a Go match or two. And Hidan was no pushover either (though he seemed to excel in scaring the shit out of his opponent, rather than in intricate plots on the goban.) Itachi knew well enough that Hidan was probably just as miffed about this boy not openly cowering at his upfront personality than his Go skills.

"How long ago did you first meet him?"

"A few months. I've run into him a couple of times, but he must have caught on – I haven't seen much of him lately."

Itachi's mouth pulled upwards into a small smirk. "Smart boy. What self-respecting child would willingly hang around a suspicious, swearing asshole like you? You haven't gone all preacher mode to him about Jashin yet, have you?"

Hidan frowned. "I don't think so…it's not like I practice nor have much experience in brainwashing children into religious cults."

"Do you even know his name?"

"Well, no." Itachi raised an elegant eyebrow. "Every time I run into him I'm preoccupied and forget to ask!" Hidan answered hotly. "And he runs fast. So I just call him Go-boy."

Itachi hummed in thought, twirling a pen with slim fingers. From the information he'd learnt and already known, Hidan probably enjoyed annoying/stalking Go-boy just as much as the Go matches.

"So?" Hidan asked, tapping his foot impatiently at his younger friend.

"…You have way too much time on your hands," Itachi said blankly.

Hidan's mouth widened into an evil grin. "You'll get a crate of pocky for your services."

"Consider it done."

* * *

Shikamaru's face was unreadable, but he now understood why his mother's eye would twitch when he said his trademark phrase.

As soon as he and Toya had walked through the doors of the Go salon, Shikamaru had the pleasant experience of being eyeballed by every old geezer in the joint. It was _freaky_.

"…So we're playing out here?" While people watching his games wasn't really a problem, he still didn't like it so much. At least he knew the people at Climbing Silver. And there was a sense of dubiousness with this entire setup. For one thing, if the boy standing next to him really was the Mejin's son, it explained why he would hang out at his father's salon. But to come across him while he was making his way back from Kiin hall? Hell, even just happening to play a game with him at the salon?

It was like he was in some kind of manga. Either that, or coincidences were turning out to look like some strange idea of fate. He could hear it already:

_All events denote a new beginning. Nara Shikamaru, you're destiny awaits you. _

_Shut up, stupid voice! You sound like Neji. _

_It is Fate that sets the new pathway of your life in motion._

…_And I thought that talking to a Heian spirit was enough to classify me as crazy…_

His mind came back to the present when he realised Toya was watching him. Right. Not exactly a great time to ponder life and zone out.

"Ichikawa-san, we'll go to one of the side rooms," the other sixth grader was informing the receptionist, before he was grasping Shikamaru's arm and dragging him along, a bit more calmly this time, but still with that vice-like grip.

Ichikawa seemed just as surprised as Shikamaru, while the rest of the customers grumbled at not being able to watch the game. Well, thank god for small mercies, Shikamaru thought as Akira led him down a corridor on the right of the receptionist desk.

Akira opened one of the many doors to reveal a single table with a goban and a couple of chairs. The entire set-up looked comfortable, and well looked after like the rest of the place. The Mejin's Go salon had a couple of side rooms for private games, but most of the salons Shikamaru visited weren't as well off, with just had a main room or one or two side rooms at best.

They both sat down at the table and started setting up the stones to nigiri. Shikamaru was black again.

"Please," both said in unison. Shikamaru's eyes flickered to Sai, who was sitting on one of the nearby chairs, ready to watch how the game would play out. Sai looked pensive, and more than a little expecting. His face was stern, like it normally became when he was serious and in Go Player! Mode, but his clasped hands and the closed fan illustrated his absorbed manner.

Akira himself was looking calm, in a grim sort of way. Shikamaru was an observant person, but he even he didn't realise that Akira's hands were trembling slightly, in anticipation to this game.

Their moves were cautious at first, both players circling warily. Toya looked to be going all out this time – he contemplated each hand carefully, looking for deeper meanings in each stone placement. Shikamaru was cautious too. Both could clearly remember their first game, and the information they had gleaned from it. Akira's eyes flashed as Shikamaru answered his move. _Looks like he really was testing the waters before, and now he's playing seriously. Well, so am I._

If the previous game had been good before, the one now was nothing short of amazing. Sai couldn't help but stare as the two, and the evolution of the game on the surface squares from five hands, to ten hands, to twenty.

The pace picked up, then progressed furiously. Neither side was willing to give the other much room, not when the other was sharply watching for openings to grab at territory and stones. They were waging war in the middle of the board when Akira's mind paused for a moment. Here he was, his clothes still slightly damp from being drenched in the rain earlier, facing off against Nara, someone his age with a Go that held more than just a passing influence of Shusaku, and reminded him of games he had seen in passing from an anonymous and elusive player on the internet.

Nara Shikamaru, whose hands were infuriatingly mediocre and brilliant at the same time.

It sounded contradictory, but how else was Akira to phrase it? Nara could warp a typical joseki to become a new winning play, or an old joseki against more modern techniques.

Soon, Akira forgot all about the old men playing Go in the next room. He forgot about the spontaneous decision to find a boy he had met only once and on a whimsical chance at best. Right now, there was only him, his opponent, and the beautiful game unfolding between them like a sky full of stars.

Shikamaru was busy mulling over which move would be more advantageous, to work at removing the eye, or strengthening his position in the bottom left. But if he had lifted his head at that moment, he would have noticed that Akira was smiling.

* * *

The key jiggled for a second, before the lock gave way and Hidan traipsed into the dim hallway. He removed his wet raincoat, shook it, and hung it on a hook near the door, before kicking his shoes off haphazardly. Normally he was more careful with his belongings, bordering neat freak actually, but he was in a rather foul mood. A dead end in the mystery of Go-boy. Nothing was ever straight forward when it came to that kid.

Asking for the insights of Itachi had proven useful at least. For all his genius, the younger man had been stumped at the apparent randomness of the go salon visits, and had surmised there wasn't any set pattern.

However, he later became embroiled in devising a mathematical equation see if he was able to predict where Go-boy could strike next. Halfway through this he shoved a piece of paper in Hidan's face before kicking him out, citing "let me get some work done."

The paper had been a flier to some Children's Go tournament. Hidan understood the logic, and had spent some time there, analysing faces and names, but the entire venture proved futile in the end. None of the brats there had been Go-boy.

He snapped out of his reverie when his phone vibrated. He fished it out of his pocket, noting the caller ID. "Yo, Itachi. Anything new?"

The mechanical sounding voice betrayed nothing. "The name you saw at Black&White that linked to the kid? I searched the name through the database of people living in the city."

"You can do that?" Hidan asked, impressed.

"Don't mention it to me ever again. I don't want to have to hear about abusing police files and the like. The other profilers in the division have already given me the "With great power comes great responsibility" pep talk when I first joined."

"Ouch."

"Precisely."

Hidan leaned against the hallway wall. "So? Did you find anything?"

"This 'Saigawa Fuji' doesn't exist, for one thing."

"…Well, shit."

"My sentiments exactly. How exactly did you get photocopies of the schedules from all these Go salons anyway?"

Hidan smirked. "The ladies and that one guy who were manning the many receptionist desks were only too happy to help."

"I'm sure they were." Itachi had honed sarcasm to an art form. "I analysed the penmanship. 'Saigawa Fuji' is linked through identical calligraphy to 'Yamatari Tsukasa', 'Shinta Kuronu' and 'Michira Seika'…" Hidan had an underlying sense of bad mojo, "…as well as 'Sherlock Holmes', 'James Bond', 'of the FUNK' and 'your MOM'."

A hand gripped the phone more tightly. "The bastard!" Hidan couldn't help cursing. "He's been bloody well using fake names!"

"If all his opponents are like you, I can clearly understand why," Itachi remarked. "But it doesn't make things any easier. Deidara might try sketching him so I can see if I can identify a match, but I don't want to get that far. It's already becoming a bit much. I mean, we've been at this for a couple of months."

"Maybe-"

"Hidan, we may be friends, but I will not be trawling through hours of video footage of the area," Itachi's voice was monotonous.

"Fine," Hidan pouted. "Thanks for everything, anyway."

"Don't worry; I'm sure you'll come across him eventually." Itachi's voice hesitated. "I'm still working on trying to plot a prediction, to see if I've missed anything, but if there's more information you can come up with, just call me so I can factor it in. Worse comes to worst, I'll ask Sasuke about his peers and the Go teams from different schools. If I can track down a serial killer, and not a grade schooler, then maybe I'm not as good as I thought."

Hidan hmphed. "You're a fucking genius Itachi, and it's a great idea. At least you had more data to work with in your cases." Two heads were better than one. "Thanks for all the trouble with this. I mean it." Hidan tossed his phone on the bench top, and absent-mindedly ran a hand through his hair, before hastily neatening it. Forget the kid. For one thing, he still had his thesis on comparative religious fundamentals to write.

* * *

The clock ticked mutely from its position on the wall, its plastic hands showing it to be a little past six. Akira's throat felt dry. His hands, trembling slightly at the beginning of the game, were steady as he stared at the mass of black and white before his eyes.

No matter how he looked at the situation, he was too far gone, and defeat was inevitable. It would be folly to continue fighting and draw out the match. But still… any indignation he had felt towards his opponent had evaporated in the face of the beautiful game that had unfolded between them. It made the majority of his games look dull in comparison (games against his father, while cherished, always had the inevitable outcome of a loss on his part). If Akira could play games on par with this one, and ones even better, then he couldn't see his life ever being repetitive. Akira bowed his head.

"I have nothing."

Nara was silent. They had almost reached Yose, but it was clear Akira would not have been able to win. Not after Nara had managed to occupy a large part of the goban when he triumphed in their heated battle for control of the centre. That was Akira's one regret, if he had any. The idea of a person his age at his level – better than him even, had come as a surprise, when it really shouldn't have. Hideki Isobe had been good, but Shikamaru was better, and there were doubtless many strong players like him who were not pros.

"Thank you for the game," Nara murmured. He eyes were fixed on the board. Akira wondered if the other felt as confused and sort of bewildered as he did.

Normally at this point two opponents would have lodged into a discussion (sometimes with grumbles and obscene hand gestures if the matches from some of the more spirited go customers was anything to go by) but both boys were reluctant to find words in the aftermath of their game, so the two packed away the stones wordlessly. The game was committed to memory by both of them anyway (as well as their ghostly observer, but only one of them was aware of him).

When they had finished clearing the board, Akira cleared his throat, his hands clasped in his lap. 'Thank you. It- it was a wonderful game.' He wasn't completely sure, but Nara's face may have flushed a little. Whatever emotion he had seen there was gone in seconds, his opponent's steady face filled with a clear gaze. "I'm here most days after school," Akira continued. "If it's alright with you, then perhaps we can have our discussion some other day." The words felt awkward on his tongue. It was at times like this he wished he could communicate with someone his age better. Go didn't necessarily prepare you for schoolyard politics, or how to talk to kids whose lives didn't revolve around things like the Hand of God.

Nara opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and shook his head slightly, mouth drawn into his half-smile. "That's fine. I'll pop by after school." Nara stood up and stretched languidly, before shoving his hands in his trouser pockets. Akira stood up, and they both walked out of the room, only this time, the air about them took on a lighter, thoughtful feeling. It was like the game had left both of them feeling a little drained, yet they were both perfectly alert.

Akira turned his head in the direction of that plain wooden door. The small side room was no Room of Profound Darkness, but you didn't need special rooms to play special Go games.

Ichikawa-san, and a great deal of the customers, looked at them curiously, but said nothing, though Ichikawa-san's eyes strayed from her book to the two every now and again. Akira's gaze turned to the window.

"It's still raining. Do you want to borrow an umbrella?"

The other boy looked outside. "Nah, it's not too bad. Thanks for the offer though." He turned to Akira. "Maybe I can swing by tomorrow. I'll take a detour after classes and meet you here?"

"Okay."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Toya." Nara walked off, a hand raised in farewell, before the door closed behind him. At his exit, half of the salon stood up as one and started pestering Akira about the match, who was the victor, and would he recreate the game for them?

It was long after Nara left, and the initial postgame rush had worn off, that Akira came to the full realisation that he had lost the game, and he was…happy.

* * *

Shikamaru had left the Go salon, not quite knowing what to think. He and Sai caught the train home, this time even more quiet than the one with Toya Akira. For one thing, they weren't really saying anything to each other, preoccupied with thoughts of the game.

Akira's facial expressions had unnerved Shikamaru… not that he was intimidated, but that Akira was so engrossed in their game. Shikamaru could feel the intensity in each hand. Akira was so serious he was almost scary, making those kids at the tournament definite amateurs. Shikamaru was serious when he played his games, but Akira played with passion, something Shikamaru somewhat lacked. His style was more detached and clinical.

Not to mention, Toya's own outlook and personality. Go pros often started young, with Toya probably set to take the exam any time now. He already knew what he wanted to do with his future. Such conviction awed Shikamaru, who was aware of his own lacklustre ambitions in comparison, and just how different the two of them were.

At dinner, Yoshino prodded at her son if anything interesting had happened at the tournament. Shikamaru shrugged, and continued chewing his rice. He wasn't acting particularly out of character, but it didn't stop Shikaku assessing his son, as if he could pick up on the thoughts swirling inside the other's head.

The silence between Sai and Shikamaru became a bit edgy, at least until Sai started talking aloud, almost to himself. "Today was certainly eventful. We had to leave that tournament early, but that match against Toya was more than worth it, don't you think?"

Shikamaru hummed distractedly. Sai tried again. "Watching you two circling around each other before launching into battle like hardened warriors, the go stones as sword thrusts of experienced samurai…"

The sixth grader continued listening with half an ear as he brushed his teeth and poked around on the computer at his desk. He had finished his homework earlier, at Sai and his mother's assertion (she wouldn't have let him go to the Children's Tournament otherwise, and then Sai would have gone into a depressing funk).

A letter from his grandfather lay forgotten on one side. Shikamaru had been composing a reply earlier, and he picked up a pen to finish. Nara Shikato wrote infrequently, and he wasn't a fan of email, but he shared a love of games (particularly strategy) that he had passed down to his son and grandson.

Shikamaru had shared a good relationship with his grandfather, and had told him all about Asuma-sensei's teachings, NetGo, even alluded to Sai.

"…_This other guy is really strong, supernaturally so. Completely dominates me on the goban, like when I play a shogi game against dad. Any pearls of wisdom and advice you can share with your favourite grandson?"_

"_Brat, you're my _only_ grandson. All I can say is to observe your opponent's habits and his moves. Predict what he'll do – all players have something you can take advantage of. And don't forget, skill is all well and good, but luck also plays a factor in some way or another. Like when I annihilate your father in mahjong. That reminds me, next time the family gets together, we should have a Go match. I'll kill you on the board, beloved grandchild or not!"_

Shikamaru wished he could properly introduce Sai to Nara Shikato. He felt they'd get along _really_ well. They could bond over a shared passion of crushing him.

His ears pricked up when Sai said, a bit dramatically in his opinion, "Truly a game worthy of two rivals." At that he couldn't help snorting in mid-scrawl, placing his pen down and he swivelling around on his chair.

"So now we're classified as rivals? Come on, me and Toya have only played a grand total of two games."

"Toya and I," Sai corrected automatically, before replying pompously, "all opponents are rivals. What I'm pointing out is that Toya Akira certainly makes a commendable equal."

"Well, considering he was practically born clutching a go stone in his fingers, and his dad is arguably the greatest Go player of this age, we can pretty much guess at the upbringing of my…'rival'. Makes me wonder what kind of social life he has…" Shikamaru tapered off, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. It was hard to truly define the Go player stereotype, which portrayed everything from nerdy/geeky kids with limited social interaction playing board games indoors, to posh kids learning ancient strategy games, and old geezers hunching over gobans and jabbering at one another.

"Now, Toya Meijin, he would be a fitting rival…" Sai mused, his mind going off on a tangent. While the spirit was caught up in a daydream of fantastic games and the Hand of God, Shikamaru prayed the whole 'rivalry' thing would blow over soon. Not only was the very idea of rivals troublesome (I mean, look at Sasuke and Naruto), the topic itself was worrying.

If Sai started rambling on about 'eternal rivals' helping one strive to new heights by 'kindling the flames of youth', Shikamaru was going to contemplate an exorcism for his sanity alone. He didn't need another Gai-sensei, not when Sai was with him for the majority of the day.

Instead, he just yawned and finished jotting the last few sentences in his letter. His hand felt around before opening a drawer and shuffling around. Shikamaru drew out a couple of tapes and held them up. "So, which one will it be tonight Sai?"

The spirit peered at the tapes. "…That one," he decided finally.

"_Sai, what else did you like doing besides Go?" Shikamaru had asked after a rather gruelling day at school. "I mean, you like music and you've read popular books from your time, right?" _

_The spirit started reminiscing. "Well, I was proficient in playing a type of Japanese flute and the biwa. What with my current… condition," Sai coughed delicately, "I can't exactly pick one up and give you a demonstration. I also enjoyed poetry…" _

After an enlightening talk about Sai's hobbies that went on for over an hour (Sai was focused on Go, but he did have a life, it just wasn't always apparent) Shikamaru 'borrowed' a couple of his mother's traditional music tapes (bypassing the more contemporary j-rock and pop tunes). Now all Sai would need to do was to choose which music tape would be played each night, and Shikamaru would switch it off in the morning. Shikamaru was never sure what Sai did at night (he didn't sleep, for one), so some music Sai enjoyed listening to should be nice. The ghost positioned himself comfortably on a couch Shikamaru had pestered his parents to be allowed to keep in his room, leaning back as the music upsurged in a lilting crescendo.

Shikamaru fell asleep to the sound of haunting string melodies; and falling rain on the roof, reminiscent of the patter of go stones.

* * *

Author's Note:

Over 5000 HITS! When did that happen?

Hoho, the plot thickens! I introduce a couple of new, but familiar and recognisable characters, Toya got that second Go game against Shikamaru, and things are starting to pick up.

Amazing to think it's the New Year. _Ko-in ya no gotoshi_ - Time flies like an arrow.

Much deserved thanks to my good friend and unofficial beta, **InkDreams**, who works tirelessly on my poor grammar and chapter info. From names to Sai's whereabouts, she's made herself indispensible. KUDOS :D

And finally, thank you to all reviewers. I hope that 2010 will mean a bunch of even more interesting and better chapters from this story, even though I have my major exams in November, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that those reviews keep coming (I think I'm living off of them). Never underestimate the power of your encouragement

From 2009 to 2010, this is SwordsMagician ~


	9. Chapter 9

Summary: In an alternate universe, a different person walked the path of Shindo Hikaru. How will Nara Shikamaru deal with a go-playing spirit, tournaments, opponents and Toya Akira? This lazy genius didn't realise how playing Go could be so troublesome…

Disclaimer: I only know the rigmarole and plots of my brain. And I think it's fairly obvious by now.

* * *

**Shikamaru no Go**  
By swordsmagician

Chapter 9

"Akira, you seem to be in a good mood."

The boy started. "Father?"

Unsurprisingly, Toya Koyo found his son sitting before the goban. "Your mother wanted to tell you that dinner's ready." Koyo's eyes rested briefly on the game that was currently set out.

Akira noticed his father's interest, and his own eyes were drawn back to what he had been contemplating. "…I suppose I'm pleased because I managed to follow up on a game, that's all," Akira said calmly, a small smile on his face.

"And a rather beautiful game it is," Koyo said slowly. "Who was black?"

"A boy my age," Akira said softly. "He's quite the opponent."

Koyo could not help feeling a muted sense of joy. It had been quite some time since Akira had taken someone his age seriously, beyond the customary civility. "You have been preoccupied with a specific game for the past few days. May I?" he asked.

"Of course." Akira deftly repositioned the stones on the board. "This was the first game."

Koyo could already see his son's personal touch in the path of the white stones, but the entity that was black was another matter entirely. He assessed the game critically, deconstructing moves and allowing the stones to play out before him. "You underestimated him the first time. That must have been an interesting experience," he pointed out. Akira ducked his head in embarrassment, making Koyo smile dryly. "It happens," the man said wisely. "But you appear to have learned from the encounter. You weren't holding back the second time, and the game was all the better for it."

Toya Koyo did not dispense praise easily. Akira's eyes brightened.

Then Akiko called out a reminder that dinner was growing cold. Akira made a move to clear away the board out of habit, but Koyo stopped him. "You can see to it afterwards." Akira frowned, but nodded and went off to wash his hands. Koyo lingered at the door, eyes fixed to the game until the stones were etched into his mind.

_There is something very new in the game…and yet, something very old. __**This**__ is the ability of the boy that defeated my son. Twice. _He finally wrenched his attention from the board in order to join his wife and son.

Dinner at the Toya household was a peaceful affair, with the small family sitting down and eating together, talking quietly about their day. The conversations would vary – Go usually had some mention (of course) but topics ranged from clothes, to school, current affairs and even poetry (which was something that all members of their family enjoyed).

Most of the time Koyo would eat his meal as he watched his wife and Akira talk about anything and everything. Sometimes he would put in a word or give his own opinion, but Akiko was the one whose social expertise and repertoire of polite, witty comments he'd acquiesce to, just as she acknowledged his skill of Go and endured the usual discussion groups he hosted in their home without complaint.

As Akiko placed more vegetables on Akira's plate, she makes eye contact with Koyo and smiled minutely, before turning back to her son. "You need to eat more, Akira-kun. Go may satisfy your brain, it won't sustain your body." It was something she'd taken to quoting after Akira skipped a meal or two while flipping through kifu records.

"Of course, Mother." Akira sighed softly. It had only happened twice, and he'd been six at the time, yet he was never allowed to forget it.

Koyo watched on fondly. It was strange how only a few days ago Akira had been withdrawn, often lost in thought, and needed to be coaxed into conversation. Akiko had been worried, but chalked it off to her son growing up. Koyo had believed something else was amiss.

Even now when Akira had returned to his usual self, there was something that had changed. Compared to the previous diffidence, Akira was almost – _animated_ – as he answered his mother's questions while resigning himself to finishing off the extra food added to his plate to 'give him energy and make him grow taller'.

"Have you finished all your homework?" Akiko asked.

"I have an assignment due in a week's time, but I've completed most of it. If it's alright, I'll be spending time at the salon like I usually do," was Akira's reply.

"So long as you don't stay too late."

As Akira nodded and returned to his food with an unusual gusto, the Meijin decided then and there that it might be beneficial to pay another visit to his salon in the near future.

* * *

**The Peg Incident of 1999** started with a bag of two hundred plain wooden pegs, a couple of markers and the entire school body of Kage. Naruto's brainchild was simple enough. The objects went into circulation, and suddenly students found innocent wooden pegs attached to clothing or hair.

_You have been pegged. BELIEVE IT!_

The other side of the peg would vary in message:

_How long was it before you noticed me? ;)_

_Hello gorgeous. What's hanging? Oh right, me!_

_I'm watching you :D_

…_And you call yourself a ninja? EPIC FAIL._

No one could link it to Naruto because it was soon fully embraced as it became a passing Kage craze, one which nobody was exempt from. Even the older classes got into it. Students regaled their friends with tales of exceptional daring, such as the successful pegging of sempai, Hunternin, and most dangerous of all, the ANBU. Teachers tried to ignore it for the most part, but were quick to crack down with detentions.

Still, pretty much everyone was sniggering when the Principal gave a speech for half and hour without realising a peg was perched jauntily on the top of his hat (at least, until Mitarashi-sensei pointed it out while cackling madly from the sidelines). Naruto and his younger protégé Konohamaru took joint-credit for that particular venture.

Shikamaru found the entire thing entertaining, but troublesome (he was forever checking himself to ensure there were no pegs on his person). Luckily he was one of the students who managed to escape their collective wrath, as Sai noticed most of the attackers before they could carry out a successful hit.

However, Shikamaru kept to himself the satisfying feeling of being the only person to peg the most fearsome teacher of all: Morino Ibiki. Three people had tried before him, failed miserably, and spent after school hours on errands for Morino-sensei, the poor souls. Not only was he arguably the most intimidating teacher in all of Kage, he was Head of Student Welfare, which meant he held a lot of clout in the school system. (The sight of Morino-sensei waving uniform infringement forms was enough to empty corridors in record time).

Even so, it had taken Ibiki a few minutes to register the peg suspended innocently off his black bandanna. Shikamaru's friends had silently snickered over the incident. The psychology teacher himself expressed grim amusement at the anonymous student's audacious behaviour, before launching his own private investigation.

As expected, no one took credit for the successful pegging of Morino-sensei. They weren't stupid or suicidal enough, and Shikamaru knew stepping forward would mean glory from his peers (no thanks) and imminent death (_definitely_ not).

Of course, the students weren't privy to staffroom talk, such as the one that took place one afternoon. Genma Shiranui cursed as he plucked a peg from the back of his vest. "Damn it, not another one!"

Iruka chuckled at the plight of the biology teacher. "You know what they say. Constant vigilance!" While good-natured, Iruka was still a prankster at heart, and though many thought him to be a reformed troublemaker, a part of him was crowing at Naruto's handiwork in approval.

"You know," Asuma mock-whispered from where he was sprawled on the couch, cigarette dangling from one hand, "I've heard that Ibiki still has _that peg_."

Gekko Hayate, who taught chemistry, coughed. "What, has he been doing fingerprint tests and chemical analysis to determine the culprit?"

"Probably. But it seems he's gotten nothing distinctive." Mitarashi Anko took a gulp of her black coffee. 'He's actually impressed with the kid that managed to get one over him. He keeps the thing in a box on the mantelpiece in his flat." No one asked how Anko knew.

The spandex-clad Maito Gai roared with laughter. "Kage is teeming with YOUTHFUL students who possess such INGENIOUS MINDS AND BRAVE SPIRITS! Isn't that right, Kakashi?" he said, turning to his masked colleague.

The man with the silver hair that defied all laws of physics looked up from his orange book. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Gai face-faulted onto the staffroom floor. "M-my ETERNAL RIVAL is so HIP!" the PE teacher declared.

This was only a portion of the ANBU faction. Kage was a sizeable school, with a colourful variety of teachers to rival the student body. While Iruka only taught elementary classes, and Gai covered physical education for all ages, educators like Kakashi, Asuma, and their fellows taught middle and high school classes, and all had their specialties.

Iruka cradled the near-empty cup of coffee in his hands as he peered out of the window. Stragglers were still milling through the Kage gates, and he could see the track and field team setting up their training course. On the other far side of the field was the archery club, training for an upcoming tournament. He smiled, watching the kids putting effort into their additional activities and hobbies outside of the lessons he covered in class.

"-How's your class of hellions going?"

Iruka came back to earth at Kakashi's question. "Not too bad. But I won't envy you lot when they graduate. You're going to have your hands full with them."

Kakashi rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I can see it now," the teacher said as his voice took on a high falsetto. "Kakashi-sensei, why do you always carry that orange book around? Kakashi-sensei, if I drop this bowling ball from the school roof, will I get extra marks for my physics assignment? Kakashi-sensei, we can't do research on our own, help us!"

"Okay, just for that," Iruka said, eyes narrowing, "I'm going to go put you forward to take charge for both Naruto AND Sasuke in the middle school mentorship program. It might bring more toleration to your teaching methods."

Kakashi's eyes widened comically. "Maa, so cruel Iruka-sensei! On their own they're bad enough, but together they're insufferable!"

All the teachers burst out laughing. The mentorship program was the idea that the students of the graduating class would all be assigned a teacher as a mentor to help with the transition from elementary to middle school. Generally there was a group of three to each designated teacher. Deciding who would be in charge of who was a convoluted but organised affair, with all the teachers, the Year Adviser, and the Principal coming together. Some put forward specific educators to handle specific students, other teachers volunteered their own opinions.

Kurenai turned to Asuma. "And I suppose you've put yourself forward to mentor Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji?"

Asuma grinned. "Sure, the whole mentorship program isn't supposed to be about favourites, but they all know me and it won't be anything different that they've worked with. Besides," he smirked, "I'm not sure how many teachers are willing to deal with the three of them, not with their teamwork. Naruto and Sasuke may be a handful, but the Ino-Shika-Cho combo can be a destructive force."

Gai's boisterous laughter once again made a comeback. "Your belief in your students is impressive, Asuma! I was able to take three youthful students under my wing in last year's mentoring program, and am proud to say that NEJI, TENTEN AND LEE HAVE ALL BENEFITED BY MY EXTREME TEACHING STYLE TO BECOME SHINING EXAMPLES OF THE PROMISING NEXT GENERATION!"

(All present teachers winced at the over usage of Gai's outside voice.)

"By the way, what's Shikamaru doing after school?" Iruka asked while he massaged his ears. "He left earlier than he usually does."

"Oh." Asuma took a puff of his cigarette. "Something about a discussion with an opponent of his."

"Wait, that lazy student's been getting into fights or something?" Anko asked in an inappropriately cheerful manner. "He'd better uphold the pride of the school!"

"Not that kind of opponent!" Kurenai said exasperatedly. "He's not getting into fistfights; Shikamaru's just been taking more of an active interest in Go nowadays."

"I knew all of my hard work would pay off," Asuma nodded sagely.

Anko huffed. "Well that's kinda boring."

Iruka was unamused. "So, you're to blame for his disengagement Asuma. When Shikamaru's not sleeping in class, I usually find him playing Go games on kifu paper – against _himself_."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "That's weird," he commented.

"Oh, like you're one to talk!" they all shouted at him in unison.

* * *

"…And by placing the stone _here_ I blocked off your assault."

"But you fell for my trap and lost a stone here."

"But I saw that and countered it."

"Thus failing to see my back up plan in the form of this hand."

The two Go players heckled one another as they dissected their game, move by move. True to his word, Shikamaru had hightailed out of Kage as soon as the school bell signalled dismissal to make his way to the Meijin's Go salon.

Sai was practically skipping next to him on the trip there, which amused Shikamaru greatly. _Sai, even with your serious Go persona, I'm obviously the older and more mature person in this partnership._

"That's because you act like an old man." Well, considering Shikamaru's general personality, Sai did kind of have a point.

Shikamaru frowned. _Hypocrite. You're an ancient spirit, I'm still in school._

"Then you should treat your elders with more respect," Sai countered him. "I've been around before your great-grandfather you know."

The two continued bickering pleasantly as they turned the corner and arrived at the Go salon. The very same receptionist was at her usual desk. She blinked, before smiling kindly. "Nara-kun, hello. Here, let me take your school bag."

"Oh. Thanks Ichikawa-san." Shikamaru noticed distractedly that she seemed friendlier than last time as he paid her the standard fee and looked around for Toya, who was seated at one of the gobans at the window.

Akira's pensive frown as he stared at the goban disappeared when he noticed Shikamaru approaching him. "Nara. I'm glad you could come," he said, standing up. "I've already taken the liberty of setting up our game." Akira gestured to the black and white stones. "The patrons yesterday were quite adamant that I show them how it played out. Some of them may still be discussing today."

"What did they think?" Shikamaru said as he plunked down into the empty chair.

Akira also sat, albeit more gracefully. "They couldn't say anything for a while. Then the arguments started. Some of our moves confused them."

"I suppose we should get down into the discussion then. Hopefully we'll be able to dispel that," Shikamaru remarked.

Akira couldn't help smiling at that. He then took in Shikamaru's school uniform and blinked. It comprised of a white shirt and black trousers, which was standard enough, but it was the dark blue jacket with the symbol _Kage_ stitched on it that caught his attention. _Kage Elementary? So that's the school he attends?_ Akira wondered, before he set the piece of information aside as the two started talking and discussing like they'd planned.

Which brought things back to the rather heated discussion, by Akira and Shikamaru's standards anyway.

"See here." Akira traced a finger to the hectic battle that took place in the middle of the goban. "I forced you to play a stone here when I threatened your cluster, and drew you away from attacking my own fledgling cluster."

Shikamaru looked at where Toya was pointing. "Yes, but that doesn't change the end result."

Toya frowned slightly. "But in the end, you did exactly what I wanted you to do."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Well, of course. That lulled you into a false sense of security, and I managed to gain the central area in the end." He leaned back in his chair. "I had to shape and adapt my own strategy to circumvent your plans, and if that includes seemingly going along with it, that's what I'd do."

"I can understand that," Akira retorted politely, "but your approach here could have been handled better in light of your actions on the rest of the board."

Both sized up one another over the goban, neither one willing to give in to the other's version of events just yet.

Shikamaru sighed. He had half a mind to just call a truce. The energy expended in this discussion alone felt like more than he used in the entire day. Plus, Toya was proving to be quite stubborn. "I have a feeling that these post-game discussions could become quite troublesome."

Toya almost looked like he agreed with the statement.

* * *

While Toya Koyo may have been expecting it, he still couldn't help feeling a little surprised when he walked into his salon, only to witness Akira and another boy hunched over a Go board to one side and talking quietly to one another as they traced out patterns amongst the stones.

His eyes sharpened. The newcomer looked very familiar. His mind brought up the vague impression of a passing stranger at Kiin Hall. What a coincidence. Unwilling to interrupt the discussion, he greeted Harumi and checked quietly on some of the other salon regulars. Both Akira and his friend didn't appear to notice him at all. And despite all appearances of holding a controlled and polite debate, they seemed to have plenty to say in regards to strategy and tactical thinking.

Perhaps he would have left them to their own devices, were it not for the arrival of Ogata Seiji. Looking impeccable in his white suit, Ogata greeted the Meijin before automatically scanning the salon and pinpointing Akira's location. Curiously, the man's eyes widened as they fell upon Akira's companion. "That's…!"

"Is he familiar to you?" Koyo asked.

Ogata's response of shock gave way to resolve, as he quickly walked up to the two younger Go players. "Akira, I'll just borrow your friend," he said shortly before pulling away his victim from the table and dragging him towards Koyo, leaving a flabbergasted Akira behind him.

"Toya Meijin," Ogata said with no small form of relish, "_this_ is the boy from the tournament. I'd recognise the hair anywhere." Ogata then looked down at the boy curiously. "A part of me anticipated you trying to make a run for it after your disappearance at Kiin Hall."

The boy, who had been looking at them weirdly up to this point, merely shrugged. "It's a pain, but why would I bother? Besides, your grip's even stronger than Toya's." The teenager transferred his attention from Ogata to the Meijin, and Koyo was confronted with dark eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" Koyo asked, testing the waters.

The boy nodded. "Your Akira's father."

Ogata's eyebrows went up. Evidently he'd been expecting the boy to refer to Toya Koyo as the Meijin. Koyo himself was also interested by the boy's term of choice. It wasn't often that he was recognised as such, simply because Akira was usually the one that had to deal with being 'Toya Meijin's son'.

"Father. Ogata-san." Akira probably wanted to know what was going on, and had materialised next to them. "I'm sorry I didn't see or introduce you sooner. This is Nara Shikamaru. We've played together a few times."

Nara Shikamaru, despite his treatment at the abrupt move instigated by Ogata, had the peace of mind to observe social niceties, and gave the two adults a polite bow.

Koyo returned it in kind. "I would like to test your ability," he said bluntly, gauging the boy's reaction. Both Ogata and Akira watched on, being undeniably inquisitive.

Nara Shikamaru blinked carefully. "I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

"What?" Ogata said. Akira too looked confused as to why Nara would give up such an opportunity.

But Koyo wasn't, not really. "I thought as much," he murmured thoughtfully. "Perhaps another time then."

The boy gave him a brief half-smile. "Sure."

Koyo nodded once before turning to Akira. "I'll be observing a few teaching games before I leave. You'll have roughly an hour to conclude your discussion, which should be sufficient." He then walked off calmly. Ogata shot Nara another frown, before following the Meijin's footsteps, leaving Akira and Shikamaru where they were.

"Why did you just leave it at that?" Ogata almost demanded from his teacher.

Koyo only motioned towards the two boys now returning to their previously abandoned goban. "You've only been here a few minutes, so you didn't see how those two were acting. They were quite involved in their discussion, and I can hardly demand a match and deprive Akira of their talk." His eyes softened slightly. "But when you brought him here, I wanted to see how he'd act in response to my questions. From what this Nara Shikamaru seemed to imply, he simply felt that the game between him and Akira took precedence."

"It almost sounded like you subjected him to a secret test of character," Ogata pointed out.

In a way, Koyo mused, he supposed he had. It was always fascinating to get a sense of the members of the next generation of Go players.

"…The other man is one of my father's students, Ogata Seiji," Akira was explaining to Nara. "He's already a professional – I didn't realise that you were familiar with him."

"I'm not. I only saw him once in that Children's Go Tournament." Nara rubbed his shoulder slightly. "Who knew Go players could be so strong? You all seem to have grips of steel."

Akira flushed. "I'm sorry; Ogata-san can be very determined when he makes up his mind." He paused. "So why did you turn my father's offer down? I wouldn't think you'd be nervous facing him or anything…"

Akira was guessing that Nara Shikamaru had declined because of time constraints and difference in ability, if anything. But the other's reply surprised him.

"You mean, why I didn't bail on our discussion to play Go with your dad?" Nara shrugged. "That would just be rude. Besides," Nara's words took on a wistful tone," I can think of others who'd benefit from that opportunity more than I ever could."

Akira didn't respond to this, because Nara then swiftly diverted his attention back to the intricacies between the struggling forces of black and white. But his mind would come back to this answer sometimes after their discussion had ended and he had gone home.

* * *

Even with his visits to the Go salons, Shikamaru still popped by occasionally at Climbing Silver, enough to earn him the honour of being recognised as a regular. Sai himself was occasionally bored with the lack of Go there, but held enough interest in strategic reasoning and the building up mental skills. He'd even taken to seeing if he could beat Shikamaru in shougi.

Sai may have been an undisputed Go master, but shougi was a different matter, for which Shikamaru was grateful for. If it weren't for the fact that he played against other people, he'd have no confidence in his skills whatsoever between his own father's shougi and Sai's Go skills.

The visits to the shougi salon also meant seeing Kaga. They were in the middle of a casual game the day after the discussion at Toya Meijin's salon when the older boy cleared his throat. "I never told you I went to Haze, did I?" he mentioned offhandedly.

"That's your school?"

"Yep," Kaga stubbed his dying cigarette in a conveniently placed ashtray. "I'm only mentioning it now 'cause I've got an extra ticket for the Haze middle school festival." A slip of paper materialised before Shikamaru's face. "I'm captain of the shougi club. You should come and check it out."

Shikamaru made no move to take the ticket, but shifted his rook. "Why ask me?"

Kaga shrugged at this. "Why not? Besides, you never told me which school you went to, and we always welcome good shougi players…"

Shikamaru smirked. "Sorry. I'm already set to enter Kage Middle School. Thanks for the thought, though."

_Thump!_ Kaga place his pawn a little harder than he had planned. "Wait a second. You go to Kage?"

"Yep," Shikamaru said. "What about it?"

The thought stumped Kaga, who waved his hand frantically. "Is the story of the fire-"

"Yep."

"And the incident of the two girls and the-"

"Happened last year."

"And the teacher in spandex-"

"We must not **speak** of that one."

"Okay…" Kaga's faced widened into a roguish grin. "But _Kage_. Man, that's awesome."

Shikamaru shook his head in exasperation. "It helps if you're mad in some way. Everyone there is."

"Heh," Kaga chuckled. "Still, this extra ticket would be an awful waste, and I'd like to show you around. When's your school festival on?"

"Sometime soon. You're welcome to pop by and have a look," Shikamaru offered. "I can get you in or whatever, if you'd like."

"Fair enough. Then I'll see you at Haze, sometime in the late afternoon? My shift should finish around then. I'll be able to scout out Kage when it's time."

Kaga's words left no room for negotiation, and Shikamaru scratched his head. "Sure, I'll be there."

Sai had perked up at the news. "Ooh, Shikamaru, do you think they have a Go club?" he asked excitedly. "We have to see! Your school mostly has all those sports clubs, and a club for chess and shougi and board games like that one with reptiles and ladders…"

Another cheerful voice also joined Sai's own. "Hello, my lovelies!" Hajime said, looking quite chipper as he walked through the salon door while taking off his hat. "And how is your tactical thinking today?" He stared down at the shougi board and shook his head. "Really Tetsuo-kun, what were you thinking, that's a terrible move!"

"Shut up!" Kaga snarled.

"Ha, you're a hundred years too early to speak like that back to me."

"Um, Kaga? Hajime-san?" Shikamaru watched as the two started arguing (again). "Yeah…I'm going home now." _C'mon Sai._ _I want to take a nap. _

"I'd still like three online games before that nap," Sai requested.

_Alright, deal. _

* * *

Author's Note:

Um, hi, it's me? I hadn't updated this in almost a year and a half (Shock! Horror!) I'm very sorry about that. But it was great to see that people were still interested and left comments, thus piling up the amount of guilt I felt over the entire issue.

Since the last update, I've started writing a new fic, and have been working on fleshing out many other story ideas I really shouldn't have. I'm also in uni trying to deal with the course load, so my apologies on the erratic schedule.

Post-game discussions, Toya Meijin and Ogata (bless their souls), and the walking plot device that Kaga seems to be masquerading as.

…By the way, **The Peg Incident of 1999** is actually based on a true event that took place at my school when I was a junior, started by three senior girls before developing into a schoolyard craze. It was not uncommon to be riding innocently on the train, until someone pointed out the peg dangling from your shirt sleeve. God knows how long it's been there.

Thanks again to everyone who stuck by this and kept the faith – no abandonment of stories anytime soon (just unwanted hiatuses). And to those readers of both my works – I'll be trying to bash out another chapter for TMWY! (time willing). Thanks again to all those readers and reviewers and alerters!


End file.
